The death toll from Pakistan’s devastating floods has jumped to 1,355, with 12 fresh casualties reported in the past 24 hours, National Desaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a report issued on Wednesday.
The report said that six of the fresh fatalities were reported from Sindh, whereas three deaths were reported from Balochistan and two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
A total of 542 people have died in Sindh since mid-June, followed by 292 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 191 in Punjab, and 263 in Balochistan, according to the NDMA.
A total of 12,722 people have been injured in the rain and flood-related incidents across the country.
According to the report, 1355 people including 601 men, 273 women and 481 children have lost their lives due to rains and floods across the country since June 14.
During the flood, 564,831 houses were completely destroyed, while over 1,138,000 houses were partially damaged.
The NDMA report said that more than 753,000 cattle have also died due to floods.
Parts of Pakistan seemed “like a sea”, says PM Shehbaz
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the government was standing alongside flood victims in their time of need, and providing them much-needed relief without discrimination.
The prime minister, who arrived in Dera Ismail Khan earlier today to review the flood situation, was briefed on the restoration of traffic at the Siggu Bridge. The bridge is located on the national highway from Dera Ismail Khan to Kuchlak.
As many as 33 million of a population of 220 million have been affected in a disaster blamed on climate change that has left hundreds of thousands homeless and caused losses of at least $10 billion, officials estimate.
Parts of Pakistan seemed “like a sea”, the premier told media after a visit to the southern province of Sindh. “It is water everywhere as far as you could see. It is just like a sea.”
The government, which has boosted cash handouts for flood victims to 70 billion rupees, will buy 200,000 tents to house displaced families, he added.
Receding waters threaten a new challenge in the form of water-born infectious diseases, Sharif said.
“We will need trillions of rupees to cope with this calamity.”
The United Nations has called for $160 million in aid to help the flood victims.
Many of those affected are from Sindh, where Pakistan’s largest freshwater lake is dangerously close to bursting its banks, even after having been breached in an operation that displaced 100,000 people.
National disaster officials said eight children were among the dead in the last 24 hours. The floods were brought by record monsoon rains and glacier melt in Pakistan’s northern mountains.
Officials in Sindh expect the waters to recede in the next few days, said provincial government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab. “Our strategy right now is to be prepared for wheat cultivation as soon as the water recedes,” he added.
But with more rain expected in the coming month, the situation could worsen further, a top official of the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned.
Already, the World Health Organization has said more than 6.4 million people need humanitarian support in the flooded areas.
Pakistan has received nearly 190% more rain than the 30-year average in July and August, totalling 391 mm (15.4 inches), with Sindh getting 466% more rain than the average.
