QUETTA, Pakistan - A tropical cyclone lashed Pakistan's coastline with heavy rains and strong winds, killing at least 10 people and forcing thousands to flee to higher ground, their possessions loaded onto cars and camels.
Navy ships and helicopters rescued 75 people from four sinking vessels and were searching for more boats caught in the rough seas caused by Cyclone Yemyin, said Lt. Cmdr. Salman Ali, a navy spokesman.
Yemyin hit parts of the coast of Baluchistan province with winds of up to 57 mph, said Qamaruz Zaman, director-general of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Rivers flooded several coastal districts, killing at least 10 people, including four children, said Raziq Bugti, spokesman for the provincial government. Spillways were opened to release the water pressure on two dangerously full dams, he said.
Floods washed away bridges and part of the main coastal highway, backing up traffic. Hundreds of villagers clutching possessions filed past the vehicles in the opposite direction.
Relief efforts were hampered with roads and telephone lines severed in nine districts of the province.
The storm's intensity was decreasing, but not before dumping heavy rains that could last through the night, officials said.
Torrential rains and flooding have killed hundreds in Pakistan and India in recent days.
Located on the same Arabian Sea coastline, Pakistan's largest city of Karachi suffered torrential rains and thunderstorms, which killed at least 228 people Saturday.
Rains and flooding also killed 38 people over the weekend in neighboring India, raising the death toll to 129 since the monsoon season set in four weeks ago, according to official reports.
In Pakistan, warnings of coastal flooding from the cyclone prompted many to flee in panic.
Most of the 120,000 residents of the southwestern port city of Gwadar moved to higher ground, Mayor Abdul Ghaffar Hoth said. People from several smaller towns nearby loaded possessions onto camels or into cars and headed for the hills, he said.
"We have imposed an emergency in the district and asked the army and other forces to be on alert," Hoth said.
The navy rescued 19 fishermen from two sinking boats and were looking for others reported missing, the navy spokesman said.
Another 56 crew members were plucked from a stricken freighter and a tug that later sank, Ali said.
"We also have distress calls from two freighters but they are stable platforms ... Priority is being given to small vulnerable boats in rescue operations, then we will move to the bigger ships," he said.
