At least 33 million people have been affected by deadly flooding in Pakistan, the country’s climate change minister said on Thursday. She urged the international community to provide aid given Pakistan’s “limited” resources.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif told international diplomats that his country must focus its rehabilitation toward greater climate change resilience, as 30 million people had been affected by the monsoon rains.
The NDMA said that in the past 24 hours, 150 kilometers of roads had been damaged across the country and that more than 82,000 homes had been partially or fully damaged. The vast majority of this damage is in Sindh.
OCHA warned that heavy rainfall was forecast for the next two days, and that 23 districts in Sindh had been declared calamity-hit. In nearby Balochistan, the capital city Quetta has been largely cut off from electricity, gas, and the internet.
Funding and reconstruction efforts will be a challenge for cash-strapped Pakistan, which is having to cut spending to ensure that the International Monetary Fund approves the release of much-needed bailout money.
Almost 500% more rainfall had fallen in the province, Rehman added, leading to electricity and gas services being suspended in most areas of Quetta since Thursday morning, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority.
Severe disruption to cell, internet, and landline phone services in the city have caused problems to rescue operations, leading the Balochistan government to request the Pakistan army’s help in rescue efforts.
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- Pakistan floods hit 33 million people in worst disaster in a decade, minister says CNN
- Pakistan floods have affected more than 30 million people Al Jazeera English
- Flash floods ravage Pakistan; 903 dead and 50,000 homeless since mid-June Fox News
- Pakistan floods ‘have affected over 30 million people’ Reuters
- Pakistan floods have affected over 30 million people, climate change minister says CNN