UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that Pakistan is facing a “monsoon on steroids” as the government issued more flood warnings over the next 24 hours.
Two months of heavy rains have caused the worst flooding in more than a decade and damaged more than 1 million homes.
Guterres said on Tuesday that South Asia was a hot spot for the climate crisis and that the catastrophic floods in Pakistan that have left tens of millions of people in need of aid were a warning to all nations of the destruction caused by global warming caused by humans.
“The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids: the unrelenting impact of record levels of rainfall and flooding,” he said. “It breaks my heart to see these generous people suffer so much.” The UN has issued an urgent appeal for $160m (£136m) in aid.
“The people who live in these [climate crisis] Hotspots are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts,” Guterres said. “As we continue to see more and more extreme weather events around the world, it is outrageous that climate action is put on a second plan, putting us all, everywhere, in increasing danger.”
In Pakistan, Baluchistan and Sindh provinces have had more than four times the average rainfall of the past three decades.
Pakistan floods: Drone footage shows scale of destruction – video
Majid Ali Bughio, 30, left his hometown in Sindh with 20 extended family members early Monday morning after he learned of breaches at a nearby embankment.
Bughio said over the phone that he had asked his relatives to go to Karachi as many parts of Dadu and Badin districts were under water. “We need rations, food, medicine and emergency aid from the Sindh government and the government must help us evacuate. We have been left alone,” he said. “More than 70% of the population in the [wider city of Khairpur Nathan Shah] they have left The shops and all the bazaars are deserted and many villages are under water.”
Flash floods caused by the climate crisis have affected more than 33 million people, officials have said. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDA) said on Monday that the death toll from monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan had reached 1,136, with 75 deaths in the past 24 hours.
The NDMA said more than 1 million houses had been damaged.
In an immediate warning issued on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) said that a very high level of flooding is likely to continue in the Kabul River, which flows into Pakistan’s Indus River, during the next 24 hours.
The Indus Highway in Sindh was submerged under two feet of water. The highway connects Sindh with the provinces of Punjab and Balochistan.
A video shared by neighbors showed a coach that had skidded on the highway as water flowed and authorities were involved in rescuing the passengers. Local people say there were no casualties.
Local media reported that there was an increase in water-borne diseases in Sindh and other parts of Pakistan. In some parts of Sindh, there has been a 100% increase in diseases.
The flash flood caused by an abnormal monsoon has swept away bridges, roads, houses, livestock and people across the country.
Gul Hasan, 38, of Khairpur Nathan Shah, had sent his three children and his wife to upper parts of Sindh, while he stayed in his hometown. He said: “I didn’t leave because after some of my neighbors left yesterday, people broke into their houses and stole their belongings.
“This is very sad in this hour of calamity that we are witnessing these problems. I will leave my hometown after leaving my luggage and other things on the roof and the water will completely reach the city and I know that now no one can steal from us decades savings”.