PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan declared on Friday an emergency in Swat district, directing the Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department to carry out war-footing relief activities in the calamity-hit areas of the district.

According to a notification, the emergency would remain enforced till August 30 to keep vigorous relief activities continue in calamity-hit areas of the Swat district.

The provincial chief executive directed the district administration of the scenic valley to accelerate the relief efforts in affected areas of Swat and all-out measures be taken to provide required items including edibles to the affected population.

The KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed two more deaths in its daily update for the day, with an adult and child among the casualties.

The PDMA also issued a warning of the high level of flood in Khwazakhela, nullahs and in river Swat with 227899 cusecs of water that led to a dangerous situation living near the nullahs and river sites.

The warning in this connection was also issued by Flood Forecasting Division of flood level recorded at 227899 cusecs and PDMA issued a written directives to district administration of Swat, Dir Lower, Malakand, Mohmand, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera and provincial capital Peshawar.

The PDMA also issued instructions to all respective district administrations to be alert and take up precautionary measures in order to avoid any untoward incident besides taking preventive measures by identifying the population of sensitive areas.

The PDMA officials underlined the need for providing timely aid and medical supplies to the affected people and said that the population in sensitive areas should be moved to safe places before an emergency situation arises.

He said that instructions have been issued to limit the movement of vehicles on highways adjacent to canals connected to rivers and in any case coordinate with the concerned departments for road cleaning.

“The people have been asked not to listen to unnecessary rumors and in case of emergency contact the helpline of Rescue 1122 besides the emergency operation center of PDMA is fully functional,” he said and added that the people should report any untoward incident on the helpline 1700.

Meanwhile, videos shared from Swat show horrifying visuals, including entire houses swept away by floods.

Journalist Iftikhar Firdous shared a video of water gushing down as it swept away trees and houses in its path. His tweet said it was a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) event reported in Kalam valley of Swat.

“Last time such an occurrence was reported in Upper Chitral, where carbon particles stuck to glacial ice caused radiation, resulting in 3/4th of the district washed away,” he wrote.

Another video showed water inundating roads and sweeping away everything in its path.

Another video, believed to be from the scenic Bahrain area of Swat showed water sweeping away a multi-storey structure.

Aaj TV Peshawar Bureau Chief Farzana Ali, reporting from Peshawar, said that the floods were now heading towards the Peshawar valley.

Villages on either side of the Indus and Kabul rivers have been vacated while rescue authorities are on high alert for the next 48 hours.

According to the latest estimates, the Kabul River has 300,000 cusecs of water which is headed towards Nowshera.

Sumanabad, Batkhela, Tota Kan and Kalangai areas of the Malakand division are already flooded from the water headed downstream from Swat.

Nowshera, Mardan and Charsadda are also bracing for floods with rescue workers and district administration placed on high alert.

The Ayub Bridge located in Balakot, which connects KP with Gilgit-Baltistan, has been closed for tourists. It is the primary route used by tourists travelling from Naran to Kaghan and Shogran, with visitors told to stay away from the area.

The district administration Mansehra confirmed 8 deaths in Balakot during last 24 hours.

The administration informed that Karakorum Highway (KKH) and road from Mansehra to Naran and Jalkhad were also blocked at several places due to land sliding and floods.

River Kunhar and streams of Tehsil Balakot were flooded owing to the continuous torrential rain which also destroyed several connecting bridges and roads where the local population and tourists have trapped. Meanwhile, nine shops and a mosque were buried under the debris of a hill at Mahandri, due to land sliding.

Heavy rain also inflicted heavy loses in Kohistan, Battagram, Torghar and Abbottabad.

In Lower Kohistan, Patankhor, floods have inundated roads as well as hotels.

Dera Ismail Khan Ganjanabad area, Qayyum Nagar and Shirani Colony also entered the floodplain, after which people were forced to relocate themselves.

Weather forecast

According to PDMA, strong winds, widespread rain and thundershowers are expected in the next 24 hours.

The areas where rain is expected include Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan, Buner, Shangla, Swat, Chitral, Lower & Upper Dir, Malakand, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Orakzai, Kurram, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, North & South Waziristan districts.

Heavy falls may generate flash flooding in local nullahs, and main streams/hill torrents and may also trigger land sliding in hilly areas of the province, the PDMA added.