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Pakistan floods: more than 1,000 dead in monsoon rains

2022-08-28T06:45:25.826Z


About a million homes have already been destroyed and one in seven Pakistanis is affected by the damage.


The toll from the floods in Pakistan continues to worsen.

Caused by the monsoon rains that began in June, they have already caused more than 1,000 deaths in the country, according to the latest report published this Sunday by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Since Saturday, 119 people have died, bringing the toll to 1,033, as heavy rains continue to batter parts of the country.

More than 33 million people, or one in seven Pakistanis, were also affected by the floods;

nearly a million homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, according to the government.

The NDMA said that more than 80,000 hectares of cultivable land have also been devastated.

In addition, approximately 3,400 kilometers of roads and 149 bridges were washed away.

Pakistan 🇵🇰 flood disaster



National emergency declared.

Some officials are comparing monsoonal rains this year to 2010 - the worst flood year on record where nearly 20% of the country became submerged.

This is impacting over 30,000,000 people right now.pic.twitter.com/VjZVHVEZpm

— Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) August 27, 2022

Thousands of people were evacuated.

Numerous rivers in Khyber Pahktunkhwa province, criss-crossed by mountains and steep valleys, overflowed and destroyed dozens of buildings, including a 150-room hotel washed away by raging waters.

"The house we had built after years of hard work has disappeared before our eyes," said Junaid Khan, 23, owner of two fish farms in Charsadda.

The government declared a state of emergency on Friday and mobilized the army to deal with this “catastrophe of a rare magnitude”, as Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman called it.

Essential but often dramatic rains

The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for the irrigation of plantations and for replenishing the water resources of the Indian subcontinent.

But it regularly causes many human losses and destruction.

Authorities estimate that the current bad weather is comparable to that of 2010, when 2,000 people were killed and almost a fifth of the country submerged.

Pakistani officials attribute the devastating weather to climate change, saying Pakistan is unfairly suffering the consequences of irresponsible environmental practices elsewhere in the world.

It is in eighth position among the most threatened by extreme weather phenomena, according to a study by the non-governmental organization Germanwatch.

But corruption and poorly established urban planning programs contribute to aggravate the consequences of bad weather since thousands of buildings have been built in flood-prone areas.

Finally, these floods come at a delicate time for Pakistan.

Its economy is collapsing and the country has been in deep political crisis since the ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan in April after a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly.

Source: leparis

All tech articles on 2022-08-28

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