Half of Pakistan underwater, over 1,000 dead
Environment — di Tommaso Perrone
The monsoon floods in Pakistan continue to destroy homes and roads. The first cases of malaria have been reported at a hospital.
Half of Pakistan underwater, over 1,000 dead
The monsoon floods in Pakistan continue to destroy homes and roads. The first cases of malaria have been reported at a hospital.
Pakistan is submerged. The face of the country has been transformed, reduced to an archipelago of small islets rising above the water. Villages, schools and farmland are unrecognisable, almost entirely engulfed by the monsoon rains that have been dumping enormous quantities of water on the ground for weeks. The confirmed death toll has risen in recent hours to 1,100, though these figures are still provisional. Added to this is the spectre of food shortages, which will make the effects of the most destructive monsoon season in Pakistan's recent history even more tragic.
#Inondazioni senza precedenti in Pakistan. Oltre 1.000 vittime accertate e oltre 30 milioni di abitanti colpiti. "È una vera è propria calamità ambientale, umanitaria e anche sanitaria" Federico Schivo #MSF #Pakistan
#PakistanFloods2022
#PakistanFloods2022
First cases of malaria in Pakistan
The government in Islamabad has appealed to the international community for assistance to deal with the emergency, with the first flights from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates arriving in recent hours. Nevertheless, entire areas remain cut off and rescue operations are impossible in many of them. The first confirmed cases of malaria have already been reported in the Sindh region, while the alert already raised by the president of the Pakistani Red Crescent — as the Red Cross is known in Islamic countries — remains high, over the spread of other diseases such as cholera, favoured by the combination of humidity and high temperatures.
Damage to homes and infrastructure
In addition to villages and buildings, infrastructure has also been among the hardest hit. Pakistan's disaster management authority has stated that 162 bridges have been damaged so far, and that more than 3,000 kilometres of roads have been swept away. Every available means is being used to get the limited aid received so far to the most remote areas of the Balochistan and Sindh regions, the worst battered by the rains: "We are using boats, camels, any possible means to deliver aid to the most critical areas," said Faisal Amin Khan, who administers the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has been severely affected. Khan himself made reference to the 2010 floods, until now among the worst ever recorded in Pakistan's history. That year they killed more than 1,700 people and left millions homeless — a toll that could soon be reached judging by the constantly worsening emergency. A disaster described by the then United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, as the worst he had ever witnessed. Meanwhile, further figures add to the gravity of the situation: 33 million people out of a population of 221 million — one in seven — have been affected by the floods, and 800,000 head of livestock have disappeared in the mud. More than one million homes have been destroyed or damaged.
More than 1,100 people have died as record monsoon rains hit Pakistan. More than one million homes have been damaged or destroyed, and much of the country's farmland is now underwater, raising the specter of food shortages.
nyti.ms/3PUNrmJ
nyti.ms/3PUNrmJ
Guterres: "Monsoons on steroids, collective action needed"
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres spoke today, describing the rains that have been lashing Pakistan for three months now as "monsoons on steroids".
The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids. More than 1000 people have been killed - with millions more lives shattered.
This colossal crisis requires urgent, collective action to help the Government & people of Pakistan in their hour of need.
This colossal crisis requires urgent, collective action to help the Government & people of Pakistan in their hour of need.
Guterres stated that South Asia has always been vulnerable to events caused by the climate crisis, and that the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan is a warning of the devastating effects of human-caused global warming. As Guterres noted, the recurrence of extreme weather events of this magnitude signals the urgency of putting in place timely measures to counter the climate crisis. It is worth considering that, until a few years ago, these areas would not have experienced such destructive monsoons.