Millions have been affected by flash floods in Pakistan, as the death toll rises past 900. The country was facing an economic crisis before this disaster, and now monsoon rains have left about 50,000 homeless according to Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that he is reaching out to “donors, friendly countries and international financial institutions for assistance.”
Earlier this year, the southern province of Sindh faced drought and record temperatures of 124 degrees. Now, the two worst-hit areas of Balochistan and Sindh have respectively recorded 522% and 469% more rain than average, in “the most disastrous monsoon spell in six decades,” according to the Guardian.
Climate minister Sherry Rehman said on Twitter that “we’ve never seen 6-8 cycles of monsoon, we’ve only had a 7-day gap in the last 1.5 months when it hasn’t rained.” According to the National Disaster Management Authority, more than 3 million have been affected, 700,000 livestock have been lost, and almost half a million homes have been damaged.
In Balochistan, air, road and rail networks are suspended. They are cut off physically and digitally from the rest of the country, as Reuters reports that optical fiber cable, voice and data services have been impacted as well.
Many have compared this event to the deadly floods in 2010. The Pakistani government reports that in 2010, the monsoon flooding was unprecedented, “killing more than 1,700 persons, affecting over 20 percent of the land area, more than 20 million people, and causing loss of billions of dollars.”