Pakistan floods: 33 million affected as shocking footage shows devastation caused by torrents of water

30 August 2022, 12:06

The cost of Pakistan’s devastating floods is now expected to exceed $10 billion according to Pakistan’s planning minister – as shocking new video footage reveals the true extent of the damage.

The ongoing flooding comes as a result of unprecedented rainfall combined with an early monsoon season, having already claimed more than 1136 lives.

According to the latest figures, one-third of the South Asian country is currently submerged, affecting more than 33 million people – equating to 15% of Pakistan’s population.

One video taken in Swat – one of nine areas making up the Malakand Division, located in the north of Pakistan – shows a torrent of water slamming into nearby buildings, causing extensive damage to the surrounding area.

Water flows fast through broken street amid Pakistan flooding

The footage reflects the situation across many areas of Pakistan, as the Malakand Division, with a population of 8.7 million people and covering more than 32000 kms, continues to be hit by flash flooding from the engorged River Swat.

The news comes as Pakistan's planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, announced the current cost of flood damage looks to exceed $10bn (£8.5bn).

It’s a week which has also seen Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visit flood victims in the city of Jaffarabad in Balochistan.

Noting richer countries have a financial responsibility when it comes to Pakistan’s recovery, Mr Iqbal describes climate change as being caused by the "irresponsible development of the developed world".

The comments follow Monday’s announcement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Pakistan was to receive a $1.1bn bailout.

Pakistan’s minister has also warned the floods look to be worse than those seen in 2010, which left more than 2,000 people dead.

Tens of thousands of people, primarily from the Charsadda and Nowshera districts of Pakistan, have so far been evacuated, with the floods affecting the Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh areas of the country.

Parts of Pakistan under heavy water as country weathers flooding

According to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Communication Of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 33 million people in 116 of the country’s 160 districts have been affected.

Over 993,000 homes, 157 bridges and 3,500 kilometres of roads are estimated to have been damaged, with over 700,000 livestock lost to the floods.

Washing away much of the area’s key infrastructure, the floods – which began in June – are expected to cause long-term food shortages across much of the nation.

It comes as Pakistan’s finance minister, Miftah Ismail, announced Pakistan would consider importing vegetables from arch-rival India in a bid to ease shortages.

With the Red Cross launching an emergency appeal, the UK Government has so far announced £1.5m of humanitarian funding.

Describing the current situation as a “serious climate catastrophe”, Pakistan’s top climate official Cherry Rehman goes on to note the flooding is “ one of the hardest in the decade” in a new video posted to Twitter.

“We are at the moment at the ground zero of the front line of extreme weather events, in an unrelenting cascade of heatwaves, forest fires, flash floods, multiple glacial lake outbursts, flood events and now the monster monsoon of the decade is wreaking non-stop havoc throughout the country,” she said.