Pakistan in a serious climate catastrophe

Reported by Agencies.

Millions of Pakistanis affected by the worst flooding in a decade are in desperate need of aid as authorities say they have been “overwhelmed” by the scale of the disaster, with the country’s climate minister calling it a “serious climate catastrophe”.

The death toll from monsoon flooding since June has reached 1,136, according to figures released Monday by the country’s National Disaster Management Authority.

Pakistan is racing to prevent further loss of life as it reels from one of its worst climate disasters with floodwater threatening to cover up to a third of the country of 220 million people by the end of the monsoon season.

It is said 75 people had died in the previous 24 hours, but authorities were still trying to reach cut-off villages in the mountainous north.

“We are a family of 20, and we were told yesterday [Sunday] to immediately leave the village. We have nothing left. We are alive, but we are not able to live any more,” A 25-year-old teacher told Al Jazeera.

Rapid flash floods have destroyed more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) of road, 130 bridges and 495,000 homes have been damaged, according to NDMA's latest situation report, making access to flooded areas even more difficult.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from flooded areas.

Some 180,000 people have been evacuated from Charsadda and 150,000 from Nowshera district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Kamran Bangash, a spokesperson for the provincial government, said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined in relief efforts over the weekend, dropping off supplies from a helicopter in areas difficult to reach by boat or land, according to videos from his office.