Pakistan: Flash Floods Kill over 300, More Monsoon Rain is Forecast
New Delhi: Flash floods across Pakistan have killed at least 310 people and injured hundreds, with the government issuing warnings of further extreme monsoon downpours in 14 more cities. The southern city of Karachi, home to 16 million people, has seen neighborhoods and vehicles submerged in knee-deep flood water, and roads are impassable.
The country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, “The Infrastructure, road networks, and 5600 homes had been damaged, and the Public services in the city have been suspended and businesses closed,”
Pakistan, which suffered an extreme heatwave earlier this year, ranks among the most vulnerable countries on the Global Climate Risk Index, which records the economic and human loss of extreme weather. Pakistan is estimated to have lost 10,000 lives due to environmental disasters, with $4bn in financial losses in the decade to 2018.
In Karachi, traders are counting their losses, with heavy flooding in the commercial sector destroying the electronics and garments market and leading to the loss of billions of rupees.
The traffic between Quetta and Karachi which was suspended after heavy rains washed away parts of the highway, including three bridges, could not be restored despite a passage of 48 hours.
A large portion of the main bridge on the Hub River collapsed last night due to flash floods. “The Quetta-Karachi highway was washed away at least five places,” a senior official of the Lasbela administration told the media.
The traffic also remained suspended between Lasbela and Gwadar as a flood was passing through the coastal highway in the Hingol area. “Around 5 km of the coastal highway was submerged in the Hingol area,” officials said.
Balochistan CM aide Mir Ziaullah Langove addressed a presser on Tuesday evening and said that 104 people, including women and children, lost their lives in Balochistan in the monsoon rains.
(Vinayak)
