ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that Pakistan is facing a ‘monsoon on steroids’ as the government issued more flood warnings for the next 24 hours. Heavy rains in two months have caused the worst floods in more than a decade and damaged more than a million homes in Pakistan. Guterres said on Tuesday that South Asia was a hotspot for the climate crisis and the devastating floods in Pakistan that have helped millions of people were a warning to every country of the devastation wrought by human-caused global warming.
“The Pakistani people are facing the monsoon on steroids, the constant effects of rain and flood-era levels. It breaks my heart to see these generous people suffering so much,” he said. The United Nations has issued an urgent appeal for $160 million in aid. “People living 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 being put on the back burner, putting all of us, everywhere, at increased risk,” They said. In Pakistan, Balochistan and Sindh provinces have received more than four times the average rainfall for the past three decades.
Officials have said that the flash floods triggered by the climate crisis have affected more than 33 million people. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDA) said on Monday that the death toll due to monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan has risen to 1,136 and 75 people have died in the last 24 hours.
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The NDMA said more than 1 million homes were damaged. In an urgent warning issued on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Flood Forecasting Department (FFD) said that very high level of flooding is likely to continue over the next 24 hours in the Kabul River, which flows into Pakistan’s Indus River.
The Indus Highway in Sindh was submerged in two feet of water. This highway connects Sindh with Punjab and Balochistan provinces. Local media reported an increase in waterborne diseases in Sindh and other parts of Pakistan. There has been a 100% increase in diseases in some parts of Sindh. The flash floods triggered by abnormal monsoons have washed away bridges, roads, homes, animals and people across the country.