In pictures: Pakistan floods displace millions
Torrential rains and flooding have submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,100 people, including 380 children as the United Nations appealed for aid on Tuesday for what it described as an “unprecedented climate catastrophe.”
Army helicopters plucked stranded families and dropped food packages to inaccessible areas as the historic deluge, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains, destroyed homes, businesses, infrastructure and crops, impacting 33 million people, 15% of the 220 million-strong South Asian nation.
The country has received nearly 190% more rain than the 30-year average in the quarter through August this year, totalling 390.7 millimetres (15.38 inches). Sindh province, with a population of 50 million, was hardest hit, getting 466% more rain than the 30-year average.
“One-third of the country is literally underwater,” Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told Reuters, describing the scale of the disaster as “a catastrophe of unknown precedent”.
A woman and children sit outside their tent after taking refuge on a higher ground following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Jamshoro, Pakistan August 26, 2022.
Boys, victims of the flood, reach out for food from a relief worker, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Nowshera, Pakistan, August 30.
