Islamabad — The Pakistani government issued an urgent request for international humanitarian assistance as the death toll from the “monster monsoon” season of 2022 surpassed 1,000. Flooding caused by weeks of torrential rain has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the south Asian nation, which was already struggling with a severe economic crisis.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned Sunday evening that the flooding caused by this year’s severe monsoon rains, along with meltwater coming down from Pakistan’s glaciers, would compound the country’s economic troubles and necessitate financial assistance.
“This magnitude of destruction is unprecedented. I find it quite difficult to express “he said. It is overpowering.
A man pushes his toddler through a flooded area in the Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on August 29, 2022, following severe monsoon rains. ABDUL MAJEED/AFP/Getty
At least 30 million out of Pakistan’s total population of 220 million have been affected by the flooding, according to Bhutto-Zardari.
Floods claimed lives and property.
At least 1,061 people have died in the deluges that began in mid-June with the seasonal monsoon rains, and the death toll is expected to grow as many settlements in the hilly northern regions remain shut off by flood-swollen rivers that have washed away roads and bridges.
Army helicopters struggled to rescue residents cut off by roaring floods in the north, where steep slopes and valleys make flying conditions hazardous.
Numerous rivers in the region, which is a gorgeous tourist destination when there are no monsoon rains, have overflowed their banks, destroying dozens of structures, including a 150-room hotel that was swept away by a violent torrent.
Tens of thousands of civilians in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge in government-established relief camps due to the overflowing Swat River. With so many displaced, regional government spokesman Kamran Bangash stated that many people were camping out along roadways in an attempt to avoid the flooding.
Bangash stated that over 330,000 people were evacuated from villages in the districts of Charsadda and Nowshehra. In addition to Balochistan and Sindh, the devastation has been severe in the southern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.
The 29th of August, 2022, in Matiari, Sindh province, Pakistan, flood victims walk through flood water after monsoon rains. Shakeel Ahmad/Agence Anadolu/Getty
Bhutto-Zardari stated that at least one million tents were among the most urgently required humanitarian goods to temporarily accommodate those rendered homeless by the floods.
“Climate disaster” has submerged Pakistan.
The climate minister of Pakistan has warned that a third of the country could be submerged by the time the “monster monsoon” flooding subsides this year. On normal, Pakistan receives three or four monsoon rains per season, but this year has been particularly severe. The nation is currently experiencing its eighth stretch of persistent summer rainfall.
Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani senator and the Federal Minister for Climate Change, stated on Sunday that a quarter or a third of the country might be submerged in water.
In the Charsadda area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on August 29, 2022, residents assemble next to a road devastated by floodwaters caused by monsoon rains. ABDUL MAJEED/AFP/Getty Pictures
She stated that Pakistan was undergoing a “grave climatic disaster.”
“We are currently at ground zero of the front line of extreme weather events,” said Rehman. “Heatwaves, forest fires, flash floods, several glacial lake outbursts, flood events, and now the monsoon of the decade are causing nonstop devastation across the country.”
She warned that the warming climate is accelerating the rate at which glaciers in the mountainous north of Pakistan are melting, so worsening the effects of the heavy rain. Pakistan has more glaciers outside of the polar regions than any other country.
A photograph taken on May 7, 2022 shows a bridge in the village of Hassanabad in the northern Hunza province of Pakistan partially collapsing due to flash floods caused by a glacier lake outburst. AFP via Getty
According to officials, Pakistan unfairly bears the effects of irresponsible environmental actions in other parts of the world. The country ranks ninth on the Germanwatch organization’s global climate risk index, which rates countries according to their susceptibility to climate-related extreme weather.
However, domestic issues are not helping matters. Thousands of structures have been developed in locations prone to seasonal flooding due to corruption, poor planning, and disregard for local norms.
A plea for aid
Bhutto-Zardari stated on Sunday that the floods would have a larger economic impact on Pakistan than the coronavirus outbreak, and he emphasized the urgency of helping.
In a country where so many people rely on agriculture to provide for themselves and their families, he remarked, “clearly, this will have an impact on the general economic situation.”
The foreign minister stated, “I would expect not only the International Monetary Fund but also the international society and international institutions to comprehend the extent of the disaster.”
Humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates is unloaded at the Nur Khan Airbase in the Punjab region of Pakistan on August 29, 2022, in an effort to assist victims of the flooding caused by a “monster monsoon” season. Distribution/Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan
The U.S. and U.K. governments have each promised approximately $1 million in emergency aid, while flights from Turkey and the UAE began delivering the first foreign aid to Pakistan on Monday.
Pakistan was already facing high inflation, a depreciating currency, and a cash deficit, and Bhutto-Zardari said he hoped the flooding emergency would convince the IMF’s board to release $1.2 billion this week as part of the next installments of an ongoing national bailout program from the international rescue fund.