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The south of Pakistan, hit by heavy floods, was preparing this Sunday for new floods due to the flooding of the riverbeds after the monsoon rains, which have left more than a thousand dead throughout the country. Pakistan is especially vulnerable to climate change and is in the eighth position of the countries most threatened by extreme weather events, according to a study by the NGO Germanwatch.
The Indus, the river that crosses the province of Sind in the south of the country, does not stop growing fed by dozens of streams and torrents overflowed by heavy rains and melting glaciers. The gates of a major dam have been opened to deal with a flow of more than 600,000 cubic meters per second, said an official at the reservoir, near the city of Sukkur in Sindh province, where some 500,000 people live.
Authorities have warned that torrents of water will reach this southern province in the coming days, worsening the situation of millions of people already affected by the floods. Pakistani officials attribute these extreme events to climate change and claim that the country is suffering the consequences of irresponsible environmental practices in other parts of the world.
According to the latest balance of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), published on Sunday, 1,033 people perished in torrential rains since June, 119 of them in the last 24 hours. More than 33 million people — one Pakistani in seven — were affected by this year’s rains and nearly a million houses were destroyed or seriously damaged, according to the government.
In Sindh province, tens of thousands of rural people took refuge on elevated highways or railway tracks. Near Sukkur, tents were set up to house the victims, who kept arriving on boats with what few belongings they could carry.
In northern Pakistan, thousands of people living near rivers were ordered Saturday to evacuate. Helicopters and rescue teams continued to remove neighbors who were still at the scene on Sunday.
In this tourist area, known for its rugged mountains, many rivers overflowed their banks and washed away dozens of buildings, including a 150-room hotel.
These monsoon rains — which occur each year between June and September — are comparable to those of 2010, which killed some 2,000 people and left almost a fifth of the country inundated, according to authorities.
On Friday, the government declared a state of emergency and mobilized the army to deal with this “catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude,” in the words of Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman.
These floods take place in a very complicated context for the country, whose economy is in tatters and is going through a deep political crisis, after Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted in April by a motion of no confidence in Parliament.
with AFP
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