Pakistan flooding: Death toll in ‘climate catastrophe’ tops 1,000
Authorities are racing to evacuate residents as provinces brace for more flooding. Pakistan’s top climate official Sherry Rehman tells DW much of the country “resembles a small ocean.”
Play Video5:56 min
Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman on floods
Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said that Pakistan is experiencing a “serious climate catastrophe” as the death toll from devastating flooding passed 1,000 on Sunday.
“We’ve had to deploy the navy for the first time to operate in Pakistan because much of it… resembles a small ocean,” Rehman told DW.
More than 100 people have died in the past day alone, officials said, with most of the new casualties reported in the southeastern province of Sindh and northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Rehman noted extreme weather conditions that have hit Pakistan this year as proof of a climate crisis.
“That started literally in early March, late February, when we went straight from winter to spring. Pakistan became one of the hottest places on the planet, crossing 53 degrees [Celsius] in the south. And that triggered… a whole season of forest fires, which we had to battle in areas where we already have low forest cover,” Rehman said.
Observers have pointed to corruption and poor infrastructure in Pakistan. But Rehman argues that UN experts on the ground now don’t “see it as anything but a climate catastrophe.”
“I don’t know anyone that could have planned for eight weeks of unrelenting monsoons in cities… taking 700% more water than ever. I don’t think that’s about planning. But having said that, of course, we need to plan better,” she said.
Play Video1:23 min
Pakistan floods: 1 in 7 affected by ‘climate catastrophe’
Further torrents expected in Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa evacuates thousands
Officials warned further torrents of water are expected to reach Sindh in the coming days.
“Right now, [the Indus river] is in high flood,” said Sukkur Barrage supervisor Aziz Soomroo. The barrage redirects water from the Indus to a vast system of canals.
Years of neglect have meant that the barrage’s canals have not been capable of dealing with today’s record volumes.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had never seen anything like it.
“Village after village has been wiped out. Millions of houses have been destroyed. There has been immense destruction,” Sharif said during a visit to Sindh.
Two women in Mingora, Swat Valley, carry wood near a damaged house
Flooding from the Swat River has affected thousands of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa residents
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes to relief camps set up in government buildings. The provincial government spokesperson, Kamran Bangash, said that many evacuees have also taken shelter on roadsides.
Local Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa officials cited by Pakistani news portal Dawn said that areas of the province had been “cut off” from the rest of the country, and many residents had been attempting to evacuate by foot, some traveling for days.
International support
Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal told the EFE news agency that “some countries have promised aid that is on its way, but we need more assistance for the millions of people affected by the rains.”
The US, UK, China and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries that have pledged support.
The prime minister’s office said that the first delivery of international assistance occurred at the Noor Khan airbase near Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s capital Rawalpindi, and 15 more planes delivering aid will arrive over the coming days.
Pope Francis asserted his “closeness to the people of Pakistan struck by flooding of disastrous proportions.” He called for international solidarity to be “prompt and generous.”
Rehman also called for international help. “I would like not to be hectored by Western communities that have gotten rich on the back of burning fossil fuels. We are less than a 1% emitter in the world,” she said.
sdi/fb (AP, AFP, dpa, Lusa, EFE)
DW RECOMMENDS
Taliban accuses Pakistan of allowing US drones to enter airspace
Taliban military leader Mullah Mohammed Yaqoob implored Islamabad not to use its airspace against the movement. A US airstrike in Kabul in July killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Pakistan: Death toll from heavy flooding nears 1,000
Two months of unprecedented monsoon rains have sparked severe floods across much of the country. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif declared an emergency and called for international aid.
In Pakistan, a ‘disaster of epic proportions’
Floods have killed more than 900 people in Pakistan and destroyed about 220,000 homes. The government speaks of a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.”
AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC
Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman on floods
Date 28.08.2022
Homepage DW News –
Related Subjects Pakistan, Floods in Germany
Keywords Pakistan, floods, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Feedback: Send us your feedback.
Print Print this page
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/4G9ij
