Dawn Images

Karachi ground to a halt on Tuesday as torrential rains flooded most of the city, killing at least 14 people. Visuals emerged of traffic on major roads such as Sharea Faisal and II Chundrigar Road almost fully submerged in water. The public lambasted authorities for not taking appropriate precautionary measures as many spent hours stuck away from their homes and loved ones.

Karachiites, however, had each other’s backs, even when authorities didn’t. People opened up their homes to passersby, cafés offered hot drinks and phone charging facilities to people waiting for the roads to clear, neighbours offered to coordinate movements to ensure nobody got stuck alone, and people pushed cars, hauled bikes and helped each other out.

The real heroes, people reiterated, are the people of Karachi.

Many clips of people pushing stranded vehicles through knee-deep water emerged as people’s cars broke down or ran out of fuel after being stuck on flooded roads for hours. The Offroad Club Pakistan, a group of car enthusiasts with specially equipped vehicles, offered to help tow people’s cars if they had broken down.

Eateries like Cafe Mantra in Gulshan, Jani Biryani in Clifton, Da Noi in DHA and Kolachi at Ocean Tower opened their doors to let people take refuge from the downpour. Coffee Wagera, a chain of coffee shops, opened up all its branches across Karachi to people who needed a place to hide from the rain. The home goods store Habitt also kept both of its branches open for people to shelter in.

People opened up their homes and offices too, with Orient Energy keeping its Korangi office open to facilitate people stranded in the area. One citizen, Khizer Khan, coordinated a city-wide effort that included 108 mosques, seminaries and offices open and stocked with necessities throughout the night.

Even radio and television host Tauseeq Haider got stuck amidst the urban flooding and was had to get a ride on someone’s bike. In a post shared by the TV personality on Instagram, he was seen riding the bike with his saviour till it broke down; they were however, able to get it running again as Haider lauded Karachiites for their community spirit.

Many people shared stories of strangers helping them and taking them in.

While this week showed that Karachi has a long way to go yet as a city, with its dated and crumbling infrastructure paralysed by a day of heavy rain, Karachiites showed that they’ll stand up for each other, even when nobody else will stand up for them.