The death toll in northwest Pakistan continues to rise after torrential rain sparked flash flooding over the weekend. The most recent deluge comes amid an exceptionally wet monsoon season driven by an overheating planet.
At least 350 people died after weekend flash flooding pounded northwest Pakistan, with similar monsoon weather causing at least another 13 deaths in northern China this week, according to Reuters reports. The catastrophic flooding triggered landslides and swept entire homes into swollen, rapidly flowing rivers.
Around 100 people were rescued from rooftops in Pakistan as the waters rose quickly around their homes, according to the Associated Press, per PBS News. Rescue crews are still searching for over 200 people who are still missing in and around the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after Friday’s flash floods, according to Reuters.
“I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” said one resident from the Buner district who survived the event, per Yahoo News.
“I thought it was doomsday. The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”
Reuters reported that the flooding was caused by a cloudburst, which causes massive rain in a short period of time.
Our warming world has supercharged heavy monsoon rain in Pakistan this summer, worsening urban flooding that affected vulnerable communities, according to World Weather Attribution. Researchers from leading institutions form the core of WWA, working closely with local scientists to share expertise on climate data, weather patterns, modeling techniques, and the effects of extreme events.
Those researchers recently completed a study on another devastating flood that impacted northern Pakistan in July.
“Historical trends associated with global warming in observational datasets show the 30-day maximum rainfall over the study region is now approximately 22% more intense than it would have been in a climate that had not warmed by 1.3°C, due to the burning of fossil fuels, and, to a smaller extent, deforestation,” concluded WWA researchers.
The flooding during the monsoon season of 2022 ranks among the worst on record for Pakistan. The country received more than three times its average rainfall in August, the wettest August in more than 50 years. More than 33 million people were impacted, 1.7 million homes were destroyed, and nearly 1,500 people were killed as a result of flooding that summer. A WWA study of that event also concluded that our overheating planet increased the extreme monsoon rainfall that caused so much devastation.
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The Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian and social welfare services throughout Pakistan, reports that there have been close to 700 deaths from flooding across the country since June 26 this summer.
“Families affected by the floods are in desperate need of urgent relief to survive these difficult days,” said the AKFP in their request for aid. “They require shelter tents and tarpaulin sheets to protect themselves from the rain, mosquito nets to stay safe from dengue and malaria, and blankets to shield children and the elderly from the cold.” The AKFP website offers several ways to donate to the ongoing recovery efforts in Pakistan.
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