Pakistan defends flood response after lots of killed

[ad_1] BUNER, Pakistan (AP) — Torrential rains triggered extra flash floods in two villages within the Kathua district of Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at the very least seven folks and injuring 5 others in a single day, officers mentioned Sunday.

In Kishtwar district, teams are continuing their efforts in the remote village of Chositi , searching for dozens of lacking folks after the world was hit by flash floods final week throughout an annual Hindu pilgrimage. A minimum of 60 folks have been killed, and a few 150 injured. Over 300 others have been rescued.

In Pakistan, authorities on Sunday defended their response to climate-induced flash floods that killed greater than 270 folks in a single northwestern district.

Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency service, mentioned 54 our bodies have been present in Buner, a mountainous half in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the place torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered large flooding on Friday.

Suhail mentioned villagers stay lacking, and search efforts are centered on areas the place properties have been flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into homes like explosions.

Authorities have warned of extra deluges and attainable landslides between now and Tuesday, urging native administrations to stay on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the nation since June 26 and killed greater than 600.

Warnings of extra intense rain to return Residents in Buner have accused officers of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered lethal flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a conventional technique in distant areas.

The federal government mentioned that whereas an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck earlier than residents might be alerted.

Lt. Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of the Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority, advised a swiftly convened information convention in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting climate patterns due to local weather change. Because the monsoon season started in June, Pakistan has already obtained 50% extra rainfall than in the identical interval final 12 months, he added.

He warned that extra intense climate might comply with, with heavy rains forecast to proceed this month.

Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Catastrophe Administration Authority, mentioned there was “no forecasting system wherever on the earth” that would predict the precise time and site of a cloudburst.

Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, mentioned the dearth of a well timed warning system induced casualties and compelled many to flee their properties on the final second.

“Survivors escaped with nothing,” he mentioned. “If folks had been knowledgeable earlier, lives might have been saved and residents might have moved to safer locations.”

Individuals nonetheless lacking Idrees Mahsud, a catastrophe administration official, mentioned Pakistan’s early warning system used satellite tv for pc imagery and meteorological information to ship alerts to native authorities. These have been shared by way of the media and neighborhood leaders. He mentioned monsoon rains that after solely swelled rivers now additionally triggered city flooding.

An emergency providers spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, mentioned greater than half the broken roads within the district had reopened by Sunday, permitting automobiles and heavy equipment to succeed in cut-off villages.

Crews have been clearing piles of rocks and dirt dumped by the floods. They have been nonetheless utilizing heavy equipment to take away the rubble of collapsed properties after households reported that a few of their relations have been lacking.

In one of many deadliest incidents, 24 folks from one household died within the village of Qadar Nagar when floodwaters swept by way of their residence on the eve of a marriage. The top of the household, Umar Khan, mentioned he survived the floods as a result of he was out of the home on the time. 4 of his relations have but to be discovered, he added.

Excessive climate Pakistan is very weak to climate-induced disasters. In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed practically 1,700 folks and destroyed tens of millions of properties.

The nation additionally suffers common flash floods and landslides in the course of the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, notably within the rugged northwest, the place villages are sometimes perched on steep slopes and riverbanks.

Specialists say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such excessive climate occasions in South Asia.

Khalid Khan, a climate knowledgeable, mentioned Pakistan produces lower than 1% of planet-warming emissions however faces heatwaves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods and now cloudbursts, underscoring how local weather change is devastating communities inside hours.

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Related Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Rasool Dawar in Buner, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

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