"Monster Monsoon" Causes Historic Flooding In Pakistan

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An aerial view of a flooded residential area in Sindh Province, southeastern Pakistan. (Credit: UNICEF South Asia/Twitter)

A "monster monsoon" is wreaking havoc in the South Asian country of Pakistan. The torrential rains, which began in mid-June and continued for eight weeks, have left a third of the country underwater and turned villages into islands. Most recent reports indicate over 1,500 people have died and 30 million — 1 in 7 Pakistanis — have been displaced from their homes.

More than two million acres of farmland have been flooded resulting in the loss of livestock and rice and cotton crops. Hundreds of thousands of people have no access to drinking water or sanitation facilities. People in the rural communities, who keep cash savings at home, have seen their money literally washed away by the flood waters. Those who do have funds left are rapidly depleting them to survive in the crisis.

33 million people have been affected by the floods (Credit: Al Jazeera/CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Many bridges and roadways are underwater or impassable, and over 800 health facilities have been impacted by the flooding. Some have been forced to close entirely. According to initial government estimates, the physical damage to the country may surpass $30 billion.

“People have lost everything and we’ve seen colossal damages to homes, dams, agriculture, horticulture, livestock, incomes, water systems, and sanitation facilities," says Abdul Hadi Khattak, Islamic Relief’s Monitoring and Evaluation specialist. "The floods are affecting every aspect of society, and we fear they will continue to have a devastating impact on people’s lives for a long time to come."

Over a third of Pakistan is underwater (Credit: Al Jazeera/CC-BY-SA-2.0)

The United Nations and Pakistan are seeking $160 million to help recover from the disaster. Many countries are heeding the call. China has sent 25,000 tents and other much-needed supplies, while the United Kingdom has pledged £15 million ($17 million) towards rebuilding efforts. Since August 12, 2022, the United States has provided over $50 million in disaster assistance to help the people of Pakistan. On September 12, 2022, US service members delivered 400 metric tons of relief supplies, including kitchen sets, tarps, and shelter-fixing kits. They are expected to help over 300,000 people with shelter and household needs.

Resources: theguardian.com, Alzajeera.com, Uniecef.org, CNN.com

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56 Comments
  • skylar_blue
    skylar_bluealmost 3 years
    oh that looks bad!!! ANYWAYS HAVE A GOOD DAY!😃
    • eennist
      eennistalmost 3 years
      it is bad and you have a good day to red_velvet_629
    • brooklynj
      brooklynjalmost 3 years
      Dang. Thats really sad this shows you should become prepared for anything! R.I.P to the ones who died! If this happened to me the number one thing I'll do is save my dog! I'm really happy people are helping around the world! Because its not the town fault or anything they deserve homes and to live not to suffer it just isn't fair! I hope America keeps helping and happy England joined in snd I really hope other places help to BCS THIS IS BAD! So far they are already helping people get homes witch is good cuz as you know shelter comes first! Now they need a plan to get all that water out bcs it won't magically dissapear in a night so I wish them the best of luck with that! And ofc they need to fix there reads shops and pretty much everything! Oh God there's alot to do I hope they do it fast tho! I hope they feagure everything out and I hope people are able to be saved and get homes and get the water out of there street bcs thats not good at all! Alr bai y'all have a great day!
      • summer_beach
        summer_beachalmost 3 years
        #PrayForPakistan
        • techfashion0315
          techfashion0315almost 3 years
          I heard about this! SO sad! #PrayForPakistan
          • adroit_avimimus
            adroit_avimimusalmost 3 years
            Oh no! This is terrible! I hope that everyone that got injured is okay! And the pets!! I hope they are okay too! Even though nearly 1,000 people died, (R.I.P., you'll be missed) that's not nearly as much as the total amount of damage done! $160 million dollars, just to help recover those that lost their homes! That doesn't count the road and bridge repairs! #helprebuild #rebuild #staysafe !! In a several years time though, I expect everything to be okay! But things will probably never be the same again...
            • sokeefe4life
              sokeefe4lifealmost 3 years
              Awww I hope they're ok<3
              • after
                afteralmost 3 years
                oh know thats bad
                • triste
                  tristealmost 3 years
                  That's tough. Hope the country recovers!
                  • boba_addiction
                    boba_addictionalmost 3 years
                    i like how they said "Monster Monsoon" i hope it gets fixed!
                    • readinglog_love
                      readinglog_lovealmost 3 years
                      I hope their okay.