More than 800 people have died since June in Pakistan due to heavy monsoon rains, a “catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude”, according to the Minister of Climate Change, who will resort to international aid.
The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for irrigating plantations and replenishing the water resources of the Indian subcontinent. But it also brings its lot of drama and destruction.
Heavy rains have lashed much of the country in the last 24 hours, leaving at least a dozen dead, including nine children, according to authorities.
The government is going to launch an appeal for international aid, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday.
“Given the magnitude of the catastrophe, neither the provinces nor even Islamabad can face this climate disaster alone,” he told AFP, citing “lives in danger” and “thousands of homeless people.”
Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It ranks eighth among the countries most threatened by extreme weather events, according to a study by the NGO Germanwatch.
Earlier in the year, much of the country suffered from an intense heat wave, with up to 51 degrees Celsius recorded in Jacobabad in Sindh province.
