More than 33 million people have been affected by Pakistan’s extraordinary rainfall and flooding, according to the country’s climate minister.
Since June, more than 900 people have perished as a result of monsoon rains and flooding that continue to shatter weather records.
The climate minister of Pakistan stated that the country was facing a “humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions” due to climate change.
The cash-strapped country has requested extra international assistance.
Sherry Rehman, minister of the environment, stated that the country is currently experiencing its eighth monsoon cycle when the average number of rainy seasons is between three and four.
She stated, “The percentages of super flood torrents are startling.”
Multiple monsoon cycles have pummelling Pakistan since the beginning of summer, unleashing massive floods that have destroyed over 400,000 homes across the country.
Thursday’s update by the UN’s disaster relief agency, OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), revealed that at least 184,000 people have been evacuated and forced to move to relief camps during this time.
It reported that three million individuals had been affected by the natural disaster thus far, a lesser number than previously estimated.
However, Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal had previously estimated that over 30 million people, or approximately 15% of the population, were affected.
The province of Sindh in southern Pakistan has received roughly eight times its usual August precipitation.
Thursday, Ms. Rehman reported that local officials had requested one million tents to shelter displaced individuals.
“We are living in a rickshaw with our children since the top of our mud house is leaking,” a woman from Hyderabad, Sindh’s second-largest city, told Reuters.
Where can we travel? The gutters are overflowing, and sewage has invaded our courtyard. Our homes and alleyways have become floating garbage dumps.”
