Extent of flooding in Pakistan in maps, photos and videos

Maxar Technologies released satellite images of Rojhan in Punjab province showing entire communities cut off before and during the floods.

As Pakistan grapples with the loss of housing and farmland, as well as the risk of disease, many fear that a humanitarian disaster is just beginning in the country.

Precipitation was 190 percent more than normal

Exceptional rains began in June after months of historic heat waves and low rainfall in Pakistan.

The land was dry and barren from the record heat, triggering landslides across the country. Melting glaciers have caused floods.

As the monsoon season began, the rains increased According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, this was the highest July since 1961.

Pakistan has experienced widespread rainfall eight times this monsoon season, twice the normal. From the beginning of June to the end of August, the country recorded 190 percent more precipitation than average. As the Indus River swelled from constant rainfall and the glaciers melted, the lowlands became desolate.

The last two weeks have brought more rainfall to the southern region of Pakistan.

Satellite images from August 28 to August 30 showed flood-prone areas.

From early June to early August, rainfall in Balochistan and Sindh provinces were above average by 410 percent and 466 percent, respectively. 29. The floods that followed destroyed cities and disrupted people’s lives.

“It has been raining in my village for the past two months,” Zahid Ali Jalalani, a 35-year-old farmer in Sindh’s Khairpur district, told The Washington Post by phone. His village was flooded overnight after a canal burst last week, with water levels rising to 10 feet in some areas. In the south, families waded through high water in search of dry land.

“It was the worst night of my life,” he said. “My house is well built, but at one time the walls seemed to shake.”

More than 1160 people died

Extreme floods have killed more than 1,160 people, many of them children, according to the Pakistani government.

Jalalani recalled that he left his house with calls for help. He said that he spent more than six hours trying to save people who were under water that rose above their shoulders. He knew a man who drowned.

“He was under the rubble and we couldn’t get him out,” Jalalani said. “It was very dark.”

Hundreds of people from his village are in temporary camps, and around 500,000 people are in displaced persons camps across the country.

Thousands more displaced people in Sindh are still struggling to get care. Many walked for days in search of shelter and set up tents along the province’s main highway. Others have moved into abandoned buildings.

Hundreds of people gathered in the classrooms and the surrounding gardens at the high school in the city of Jamshoro. Most of them had nothing but the clothes they were running from.

17-year-old Gulam Qadir ran away from his village two weeks ago. He and five family members have been sleeping in the classroom for more than a week.

“We left our house when the water almost reached my neck,” said Qadir. His house started to fly. Two rooms collapsed and another began to collapse. “I was worried about my family, especially the children,” she said.

According to government estimates, 33 million people were affected by the floods, which is about 13 percent of the population.

World Health Organization he said As of Wednesday, 888 health facilities were damaged Experts have warned that the disaster could lead to an increase in disease and food shortages. Standing water can act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry dengue fever and malaria.

Vector-borne disease researcher Erum Khan said dengue cases have increased since the flood. His laboratory at the Aga Khan University in Karachi reported more than 200 cases in August, compared to fewer than 30 in April. “The actual numbers are probably much higher,” Khan added.

The devastation left some parts of the country unable to operate. Officials said Tuesday that 1 million homes were destroyed, as well as 2,100 miles of roads between D.C. and Salt Lake City. Bridges and dams were also destroyed. Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Monday that more than $10 billion is needed for reconstruction.

Thousands of hectares of farmland are under water and aid workers are struggling to reach isolated communities.

“What we are facing is a food shortage that affects villages and cities equally,” Khan said.

Sindh’s agricultural economy has “totally collapsed”, Iqbal told a press conference on Tuesday. “Almost half of our cotton crop has been destroyed,” he said. Rice was also damaged, and 700,000 cattle were lost across the country. He called the floods a “climate disaster” and said Pakistan, one of the lowest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide in the world, was suffering the worst consequences of climate change.

“In the developing world, someone is paying the price,” Iqbal said.

Ruby Mellen, Kasha Patel and Laris Karklis reported from Washington. Susannah George reported from Kabul. Haq Nawaz Khan reported from Jamshoro, Pakistan. Shaiq Hussain reported from Islamabad. Gerry Shih reported from Delhi.