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WORLD NEWS Monday 29 august 2022

Pakistan flooding deaths pass 1,000 in ‘climate catastrophe’

By ZARAR KHAN tims, for the injured and the
Associated Press evacuated, and so that in-
(AP) — Deaths from wide- ternational solidarity will be
spread flooding in Pakistan prompt and generous.”
topped 1,000 since mid- Rehman told Turkish news
June, officials said Sunday, outlet TRT World that by the
as the country’s climate time the rains recede, “we
minister called the deadly could well have one fourth
monsoon season “a serious or one third of Pakistan un-
climate catastrophe.” der water.”
Flash flooding from the “This is something that is a
heavy rains has washed global crisis and of course
away villages and crops as we will need better plan-
soldiers and rescue workers ning and sustainable de-
evacuated stranded resi- velopment on the ground.
dents to the safety of relief ... We’ll need to have cli-
camps and provided food mate resilient crops as well
to thousands of displaced as structures,” she said.
Pakistanis. In May, Rehman told BBC
Pakistan’s National Disas- Newshour that both the
ter Management Author- country’s north and south
ity reported the death toll were witnessing extreme
since the monsoon season weather events because of
began earlier than normal rising temperatures. “So in
this year — in mid- June — north actually just now we
reached 1,033 people after A man looks for salvageable belongings from his flood-hit home surrounded by water, in Jaffar- are ... experiencing what is
new fatalities were report- abad, a district of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. known as glacial lake out-
ed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa burst floods which we have
and southern Sindh prov- the country,” she said. The people have been evacu- The unprecedented mon- many of because Pakistan
inces. on-camera statement was ated from Charsadda and soon season has affected is home to the highest num-
Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani retweeted by the country’s 150,000 from Nowshehra all four of the country’s ber of glaciers outside the
senator and the country’s ambassador to the Europe- district villages. provinces. Nearly 300,000 polar region.”
top climate official, said in an Union. Khaista Rehman, 55, no re- homes have been de- The government has de-
a video posted on Twitter Flooding from the Swat Riv- lation to the climate min- stroyed, numerous roads ployed soldiers to help ci-
that Pakistan is experienc- er overnight affected north- ister, took shelter with his rendered impassable and vilian authorities in rescue
ing a “serious climate ca- western Khyber Pakhtunkh- wife and three children on electricity outages have and relief operations across
tastrophe, one of the hard- wa province, where tens of the side of the Islamabad- been widespread, affect- the country.
est in the decade.” thousands of people — es- Peshawar highway after his ing millions of people. The Pakistani army also said
“We are at the moment at pecially in the Charsadda home in Charsadda was Pope Francis on Sunday in a statement it airlifted a
the ground zero of the front and Nowshehra districts submerged overnight. said he wanted to assure 22 tourists trapped in a val-
line of extreme weather — have been evacuated “Thank God we are safe his “closeness to the popu- ley in the country’s north to
events, in an unrelenting from their homes to relief now on this road quite high lations of Pakistan struck by safety.
cascade of heatwaves, camps set up in govern- from the flooded area,” he flooding of disastrous pro- Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif
forest fires, flash floods, mul- ment buildings. Many have said. portions.” Speaking during visited flooding victims in
tiple glacial lake outbursts, also taken shelter on road- “Our crops are gone and a pilgrimage to the Italian city of Jafferabad in Balu-
flood events and now the sides, said Kamran Ban- our home is destroyed but town of L’Aquila, which was chistan. He vowed the
monster monsoon of the gash, a spokesperson for I am grateful to Allah that hit by a deadly earthquake government would provide
decade is wreaking non- the provincial government. we are alive and I will re- in 2009, Francis said he was housing to all those who
stop havoc throughout Bangash said some 180,000 start life with my sons.” praying “for the many vic- lost their homes.q