Third of Pakistan under water, as deaths from flood rises above 1,200

A third of Asian country, Pakistan, which has been battling to contain devastating floods in the past one week, is under water as the death toll has surged past 1,200, according to the country’s emergency services.

In a report by the body on Saturday, Pakistani authorities warned people in the devastated southern Sindh province to move to safer places before more floodwater from the swollen Indus river is expected to hit the region this week.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department on Friday, said the floods which are as a result of the seasonal monsoon which usually brings heavy downpours, has been at its heaviest this year with it being the wettest since records began in 1961.

Read also:Over 550 killed in Pakistani floods in one month —Report

Torrential monsoon rainfall, 10 times heavier than usual, has caused the Indus River to overflow, effectively creating a long lake, tens of kilometers wide, the department said.

It noted that in the southern Sindh and Balochistan provinces, rainfall has been 500% above average as of August 30, engulfing entire villages and farmland, razing buildings and wiping out crops.

“The town of Shahdadkot in the province saw people moving their cattle through knee-deep water with many buildings also affected.

“In May, some parts of Sindh were the hottest place in Pakistan. Now people are facing floods there that have caused an outbreak of waterborne diseases. Although flood waters continued to recede in most of the country, many districts in Sindh remained underwater.

“The death toll from the flooding surged past 1,200, officials said Friday, with families and children at special risk of disease and homelessness,” it said in the statement.

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