A high-level body set up to coordinate relief met on Saturday for the first time in Islamabad, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to take stock of the disaster.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in the northern mountains caused flooding that affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,265 people, including 441 children. The flooding, blamed on climate change, continues to spread.
The proportion of child deaths has raised concerns. On Friday, the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) said there was a risk of “much more” child deaths from disease after the floods.
The floods that inundated a third of the country were preceded by four heat waves and multiple raging forest fires, the disaster management official said at the high-level meeting, highlighting the effects of the change. climate in this South Asian nation.
“The year 2022 has brought some harsh realities of climate change for Pakistan,” National Disaster Management Authority chief Lt. Gen. Akhtar Nawaz said during a briefing for the country’s top leadership. .
“This year we didn’t have a spring season – we had to deal with four heat waves which caused massive fires all over the country,” he said.
The fires have been particularly severe in the southwestern province of Balochistan, destroying swathes of pine and nut forests and other types of vegetation, not far from areas now submerged.
Balochistan received 436% more rain than the 30-year average during this monsoon.
The province has seen widespread devastation, including the washout of major rail and road networks as well as breakdowns in telecommunications and power infrastructure, the meeting was told.
The country received almost 190% more rain than the 30-year average in the quarter to August, totaling 390.7 millimeters (15.38 inches). Sindh province, with a population of 50 million, was the hardest hit, receiving 464% more rain than the 30-year average.
Aid poured in from several countries, with the first humanitarian aid flight from France landing in Islamabad on Saturday morning. But Pakistan’s biggest charity group said millions of people had still not been reached by aid and relief efforts.
The first estimates of the damage were calculated at 10 billion dollars, but investigations are still underway with international organizations.
The United Nations appealed for $160 million to help deal with what it called an “unprecedented climate catastrophe”, while the Pakistani navy deployed inland to carry out rescue operations in sea-like areas.