Nearly 500,000 people crowd into camps after losing homes in Pakistan floods

29 August 2022, 19:44

People wade through a flooded area of Sohbatpur, a district of Pakistan’s south-western Baluchistan province
Pakistan Floods. Picture: PA

The country’s climate minister warned that Pakistan is on the ‘front line’ of the world’s climate crisis.

Nearly half a million people have crowded into camps after losing their homes in widespread flooding in Pakistan.

The country’s climate minister warned that Pakistan is on the “front line” of the world’s climate crisis after unprecedented monsoon rains wracked the country since mid-June, killing more than 1,136 people.

The rains stopped more than two days ago and floods in some areas were receding.

But Pakistanis in many parts of the country were still wading through waters that filled their homes or covered their town’s streets as they struggled with how to deal with the damage to homes and businesses.

Displaced families line up to receive food as they take refuge on a roadside after fleeing their flood-hit homes, in Charsadda, Pakistan
Displaced families line up to receive food as they take refuge on a roadside after fleeing their flood-hit homes in Charsadda, Pakistan (Mohammad Sajjad/AP)

In one of the worst single incidents of the flooding, at least 11 people were killed on Monday when a boat that volunteer rescuers were using to evacuate two dozen people capsized in the flood-swollen waters of the Indus River near the southern city of Bilawal Pur, media reported.

An unknown number were still missing from the capsizing.

Climate minister Sherry Rehman and meteorologists told the Associated Press (AP) that new monsoons were expected in September.

Monsoons have hit earlier and more heavily than usual since the start of summer, officials say – most recently with massive rains last week that affected nearly the entire country.

Pakistan is accustomed to monsoon rains and flooding, Ms Rehman said, but not like this.

“What we saw recently in the last eight weeks is unrelenting cascades of torrential rain that no monsoon has ever brought with it ever before,” she said.

The heavy rains are the latest in a series of catastrophes that Ms Rehman said are exacerbated by climate change, including heatwaves, forest fires and glacial lake outbursts.

Pakistani minister of climate change Sherry Rehman
Pakistani minister of climate change Sherry Rehman (Rahmat Gul/AP)

The damage reflects how poorer countries often pay the price for climate change largely caused by more industrialised nations.

Since 1959, Pakistan is responsible for only 0.4% of the world’s historic CO2 emissions.

The US is responsible for 21.5%, China for 16.5% and the EU 15%.

“Climate knows no borders and its effects can be disproportionately felt,” Ms Rehman said, adding “we’re on the front line of a global crisis”.

The National Disaster Management Authority said floods this summer have killed more than 1,136 people and injured 1,636, as well as damaging one million homes.

At least 498,000 people in the country of 220 million are in relief camps after being displaced, it said.

Many more displaced are believed to be living with relatives, friends or outside.

International aid was starting to flow into Pakistan, and the military was helping distribute aid to remote areas and evacuate those who had lost their homes.

People wade through floodwaters in Sohbatpur, a district of Pakistan’s south-western Baluchistan
People wade through floodwaters in Sohbatpur, a district of Pakistan’s south-western Baluchistan (Zahid Hussain/AP)

Authorities were starting the long effort of rebuilding roads and restarting railways.

The floods destroyed more than 150 bridges and numerous roads have been washed away, making rescue operations difficult.

In the south-eastern town of Shikar Pur not far from the Indus River, Rehan Ali dug up bricks from the collapsed walls of his home, nearly completely destroyed by lashing storms and waters that raged through.

His family’s possessions were strewn around outside.

The 24-year-old labourer said he cannot rebuild without government help and cannot work now because of the turmoil.

“I don’t even have anything to feed my family. I lost everything. I don’t know where to go. God help me,” he said.

Arif Ullah, an official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, told the AP that more rains will continue to lash parts of Pakistan next month.

A family sits under a tent set up next to their demolished house, surrounded by floodwaters, in Sohbatpur, a district of Pakistan’s south-western Baluchistan province
A family sits under a tent set up next to their demolished house, surrounded by floodwaters, in Sohbatpur (Zahid Hussain/AP)

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said the rains so far have been the heaviest Pakistan has seen in three decades.

“I saw floodwater everywhere, wherever I went in recent days and even today,” Mr Sharif said in the town of Charsadda in the north-east of the country.

Some 180,000 people in the town have been evacuated after the Swat River overflowed and swamped nearby communities.

Mr Sharif has said the government would provide housing to all those who lost their homes.

But many of the displaced have lost not just homes, but also crops and businesses.

“I am sitting with my family in a tent, and how can I go out to work? Even if I go out in search of a job, who will give me any job as there is water everywhere,” asked Rehmat Ullah, a flood victim in Charsadda.

Zarina Bibi said soldiers evacuated her by boat.

She broke down in tears as she recounted how her house collapsed in the floods.

Displaced children sit under their tent’s shade as they take refuge on a roadside after fleeing their flood-hit homes, in Charsadda, Pakistan
Displaced children sit under their tent’s shade as they take refuge on a roadside after fleeing their flood-hit homes (Mohammad Sajjad/AP)

“We were given a tent and food by soldiers and volunteers,” she said.

“Floodwater will recede soon, but we have no money to rebuild our home.”

At least 6,500 soldiers were deployed to help, and authorities said they were using military planes, helicopters, trucks and boats to evacuate marooned people and deliver aid to them.

However, many displaced complained they were still waiting for help.

Some said they got tents but not food.

Pakistani authorities say this year’s devastation is worse than in 2010, when floods killed 1,700 people.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s military chief, said on Sunday that his country may take years to recover.

He appealed to Pakistanis living abroad to generously donate to the flood victims.

People travel in a trailer pulled by a tractor through a flooded area of Sohbatpur, a district of Pakistan’s south-western Baluchistan province
People travel in a trailer pulled by a tractor through a flooded area of Sohbatpur (Zahid Hussain/AP)

Cargo planes from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates began the flow of international aid, landing in Islamabad on Sunday with tents, food and other daily necessities.

The United Nations will launch an international appeal for Pakistani flood victims on Tuesday in Islamabad.

The flood wreckage has hit Pakistan at a time when the country faces one of its worst economic crises, narrowly avoiding a default.

Later on Monday, the International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved the release of a much-awaited 1.17 billion dollars (£1 billion) for Pakistan, Pakistan’s information minister Maryam Aurangez told the AP.

The announcement was a big relief for the country.

Pakistan and the IMF originally signed the bailout accord in 2019.

But the release of a 1.17 billion dollar tranche had been on hold since earlier this year, when the IMF expressed concern about Pakistan’s compliance with the deal’s terms under former prime minister Imran Khan’s government.

Last week, the United Nations in a statement said that it has allocated three million dollars (£2.5 million) for UN aid agencies and their partners in Pakistan to respond to the floods and this money will be used for health, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation services in flood-affected areas, focusing on the most vulnerable.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Young Palestinians walk among the rubble of destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip

Palestinians say Hamas and Fatah close to deal on post-war Gaza administration

Police have clashed with protesters in South Korea

Protesters storm South Korea's National Assembly after President declares martial law

Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan attends court in Ho Chi Minh City to appeal against her death sentence in a financial fraud case

Vietnam court may commute tycoon’s death sentence if she pays 11 billion dollars

Sarah Boone, 47, of Florida was sentenced by Circuit Judge Michael Kraynick on Monday

Woman jailed for life for killing boyfriend by zipping him inside suitcase and leaving him to suffocate

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, boards the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft on a visit to a South Korean naval base in Busan, South Korea, in June

South Korea's president declares emergency martial law in surprise late-night TV address

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during a banquet at the Guildhall in London

G20 has ‘shock absorbers’ to deal with return of Trump, says South Africa

Members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad shout slogans during a protest outside the Bangladesh High Commission in Mumbai, India

Bangladesh court defers Hindu leader’s bail hearing as tensions with India rise

A man works at a chip manufacturing facility in Nantong, eastern China

China bans exports to US of gallium and other key hi-tech materials

Syrian opposition fighters outside Aleppo International Airport

Syrian insurgents capture four towns as government forces reclaim some territory

The sword in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter theme park recalls replica swords after Warner Bros blades break Japan’s weapons law

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh in November

Release Israeli hostages now or there will be ‘hell to pay’, Trump warns Hamas

A house in Kibbutz Manara in norther Israel, near the border with Lebanon, is protected with sandbags

Israeli strikes kill 11 in Lebanon after exchanges with Hezbollah test ceasefire

Kate, Charles and Camilla during Trooping the Colour in June.

Queen set to miss start of Qatari state visit amid ongoing health concerns as Kate joins royal party

North Korea deploying fake IT workers and hackers to target UK firms, cryptocurrency, and defence data, spy chief warns

North Korea deploying fake IT workers and hackers to target UK firms, cryptocurrency, and defence data, spy chief warns

New twist in hunt for missing Hannah Kobayashi as police reveal CCTV captured photographer entering Mexico

New twist in hunt for missing Hannah Kobayashi as police reveal CCTV captured photographer entering Mexico

People protest in London in April after Iran imposed the death sentence on rapper Toomaj Salehi

Iran releases rapper famous for lyrics about 2022 killing of Mahsa Amini