Karachi, Pakistan () — Deadly floods that threaten to engulf up to a third of Pakistan by the end of the monsoon season have left more than $10 billion in damage, officials say, as the international community responds to cries for help from the crisis-hit country. .
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal revealed the estimated cost on Monday, telling : “The world needs to come to Pakistan’s aid to deal with the effects of climate change.”
A man swims through a flooded area as he seeks to reach a higher point in Charsadda, Pakistan, on August 27.
In a statement on Tuesday, Pakistan’s military said rescue missions were ongoing and international aid was starting to arrive in the country, including seven military planes from Turkey and three from the United Arab Emirates.
Helicopters evacuated more than 300 stranded people and distributed more than 23 metric tons of relief items, while more than 50 medical camps were established with more than 33,000 patients treated, according to the statement.
Also on Tuesday, China will send two planes with 3,000 tents and Japan will send tarpaulins and shelters, according to the statement, adding that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Azerbaijan have announced financial assistance.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided another lifeline on Monday, releasing $1.17 billion in bailout funds to prevent a default on debt obligations for the South Asian nation as it grapples with political and economic turmoil worsened by flooding. without precedents.
Peter Ophoff, director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Pakistan, told that he had not seen anything of the magnitude of the flooding in almost three decades working for the agency.
“Pakistan is in dire need and the damage is here and we will be in this for a long time,” he said. “It’s not months but years we’re talking about.”
About 33 million people, or 15% of the population, have been affected by the floods and heavy rains, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
At least 1,136 people, including 386 children, have been killed and 1,634 injured since mid-June, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said on Monday, as relentless rain raised fears of more deaths. The flooding has also destroyed key infrastructure, including more than 130 bridges and nearly half a million homes, according to the NDMA.
“By the time this is over, we may well have a quarter or a third of Pakistan under water,” Pakistan’s climate change minister, Sherry Rehman, told the Turkish news agency TRT World last week.
‘The water came gushing’
A flooded area in Charsadda district on August 27.
Dramatic scenes of disaster have been seen in Pakistan amid floods.
It was raining but not much, Ali Jan told Reuters on Monday, as he stood surrounded by water in Chadsadda in northern Pakistan. But that quickly changed.
“Suddenly, the outer wall of the compound collapsed and the water gushed in,” said Jan. “We barely managed to save ourselves. By the time the women were leaving the house, the water was almost waist deep. We evacuated the women and cattle. The rest are there for you to see. The crops have also been destroyed.”
In videos shared by Pakistan’s Alkhidmat Foundation, its volunteers used a makeshift bed frame and pulley system to help a boy and an elderly man cross floodwaters, according to the NGO’s digital media manager Ihtisham Khaliq Waseer.
More than 3,000 volunteers from the NGO are distributing aid throughout the country, he said.
“We are receiving help, but it is not enough with what we need on the ground, because the damage is much greater than expected,” he said. And he added that teams of volunteers have been doing their best to deliver supplies to hard-to-reach areas for weeks.
Waseer said he hopes that as the rains weaken and the floods recede in the coming week based on weather forecasts, his team will be able to deliver food rations and set up medical centers in remote areas.
climate crisis
Families sit near their belongings inundated by flood waters in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan on August 28, 2022.
Even before the floods, Pakistan had suffered disproportionately from the climate crisis, according to researchers and aid groups. Last year, Pakistan was ranked as the eighth nation most affected by climate change between 2000 and 2019, in the Global Climate Risk Index of the non-profit group Germanwatch.
“This is a climate crisis,” Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF’s representative in Pakistan, told on Tuesday. “A climate that has been created mainly by the richer countries, contributing to the crisis, and I think it is time for the world to respond to support Pakistan in this time of need.”
In a statement Monday, IRC Pakistan Country Director Shabnam Baloch said the nation is “suffering the consequences of the world’s inaction” on climate change “despite producing less than 1% of the footprint of carbon of the world.
The lack of clean water and sanitation facilities has exacerbated the risk of disease spreading in the flooded areas, with nearly 20,000 people in need of critical food supplies and medical assistance, Baloch added.
“Our needs assessment showed that we are already seeing a huge increase in cases of diarrhoea, skin infections, malaria and other diseases,” he said. “We are urgently asking donors to step up their support and help us save lives.”
IMF bailout
The funds set to be released by the IMF on Monday are part of a 2019 bailout deal to “put Pakistan’s economy on the path of sustainable and balanced growth,” according to the IMF.
“Pakistan’s economy has been affected by adverse external conditions, due to spillover effects from the war in Ukraine and internal challenges,” Antoinette Sayeh, deputy managing director and acting president of the IMF, said in a statement on Monday.
The IMF has been criticized in the past for imposing strict austerity on recipient nations, forcing governments to cut social programs and privatize domestic industries.
Conditions set by the IMF have forced the Pakistani government to make unpopular decisions, such as raising electricity rates and doubling the cost of fuel amid skyrocketing inflation.
Additional information from Reuters.
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