Pakistan has experienced an increase in extreme weather events, as it grapples with the impacts of climate change.
Heavy rains and lightning caused havoc in different areas of Pakistan causing 71 deaths and injuries to 67 others in four days, an official told the media on Wednesday.
An official from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was the worst-hit region where 32 people lost their lives in different incidents, including roof collapse and lightning incidents.
Rain also lashed the capital, Islamabad, and killed seven people in southwestern Balochistan province. Streets flooded in the northwestern city of Peshawar and in Quetta, the Balochistan capital.
Heavy flooding from seasonal rains has also killed at least 50 people in Afghanistan and injured 36 others over recent days, the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) reported on Tuesday.
More than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed while about 200 livestock died, the Taliban authorities said earlier. The flooding also damaged large areas of agricultural land and more than 85km (53 miles) of roads, he said.
Afghanistan has provided aid to nearly 23,000 families, with flash floods reported in 20 of the country’s 34 provinces.
The storms add to the challenges facing Afghanistan, which is still recovering from decades of conflict and numerous natural disasters.
A series of earthquakes in the western province of Herat in October killed at least 1,500 people, according to the United Nations.
Also read: https://thelocaljournalist.com/desert-city-of-dubai-witness-record-rainfall-in-75-years/
