Homes are surrounded by floodwaters in Sohbat Pur city, a district of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province
Photo : AP
The floods have affected the lives of millions of people after which the Pakistan government declared a “national emergency”. As of 25 August, Pakistan has experienced 375.4 mm of rainfall – 2.87 times higher than the national 30-year average of 130.8 mm. These rains have primarily fallen on Balochistan, Sindh and parts of Punjab, with Balochistan receiving five times its average 30-year rainfall and Sindh receiving 5.7 times its 30-year average, the statement reads.
Here are the latest updates:
– The Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government on Monday set up the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre, which will comprise federal ministers, representatives of armed forces, chief ministers and experts to provide proper institutional response to the calamity.
– The UN has announced its intention to launch a flash appeal on Tuesday to help Pakistan. The global body said it was seeking $161 million to provide critical food and cash assistance to victims. The appeal would be launched from Geneva and the Pakistani capital Islamabad simultaneously.
– According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 28 people have died in the previous 24 hours, and authorities are still trying to reach cut-off villages in the mountainous north.
– More than two million acres of cultivated crops have been wiped out, 3,457 kilometres (about 2,200 miles) of roads destroyed, and 157 bridges washed away.
– NDMA estimates show that more than 33 million of the population has been affected by the floods. The authority shared that 51,275 have been rescued while 498,442 have been moved to relief camps.
– Authorities and charities are struggling to accelerate aid delivery – a challenging task in areas cut off because roads and bridges have been washed away.
– The Indus River, which runs along the length of the South Asian nation, is threatening to burst its banks as torrents of water rush downstream from its tributaries in the north.
