ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistanis wrestled with the destruction of their homes and businesses yesterday as the military and volunteers tried to evacuate thousands stranded by widespread flooding driven by “monster monsoons” that have killed more than 1,000 people this summer.
In the southeastern town of Shikar Pur not far from the Indus River, Rehan Ali dug up bricks from the collapsed walls of his home, nearly completely destroyed by lashing storms and waters that raged through. His family’s possessions were strewn around outside.
The 24-year-old labourer said he cannot rebuild without government help and can’t work now because of the turmoil. “I don’t even have anything to feed my family. I lost everything.
I don’t know where to go,” he said.
International aid was starting to flow into Pakistan after the country appealed for help from what officials say is a disaster fuelled by climate change. Monsoon storms, heavier and earlier than usual, have hit Pakistan hard the past week – most recently with massive rains last week that effected nearly the entire country.
Flash floods have affected 33 million Pakistanis, damaged nearly one million homes and killed at least 1,061 people, officials said.
Though rains stopped two days ago, large areas in parts of the country were still covered with water yesterday, up to a metre high in some places, particularly in the south, witnesses said. Weather forecasts predicted dry conditions for the coming days, offering hope flooding will recede for now.
Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif yesterday said the rains are the heaviest Pakistan has seen in three decades.
“I saw floodwater everywhere, wherever I went in recent days and even today,” Sharif said in the town of Charsadda in the northeast of the country. Some 180,000 people in the town have been evacuated after the Swat River overflowed and swamped nearby communities.
Sharif has said the government would provide housing to all those who lost their homes.
But many of the displaced have lost not just homes, but also crops and businesses.
“I am sitting with my family in a tent, and how can I go out to work? Even if I go out in search of a job, who will give me any job as there is water everywhere,” asked Rehmat Ullah, a flood victim in Charsadda.
Zarina Bibi said soldiers evacuated her by boat. She broke down in tears as she recounted how her house collapsed in the floods.
“We were given a tent and food by soldiers and volunteers,” she said. “Floodwater will recede soon, but we have no money to rebuild our home.”
Pakistan’s Climate Minister Sherry Rehman has described the unusual rainfall as a “monster monsoon.” She said the heavy rains are the latest in a series of catastrophes exacerbated by climate change.
