Residents in a hilltop village in northwest Pakistan described how raging waters and rocks had swept through their homes after a cloudburst, as authorities said yesterday the toll from floods in the region over the past five days had risen to 365.
Flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in the mountainous northwest have brought destruction since Friday in the worst spell of this year’s monsoon, with officials warning of more storms ahead.
In Dalori Bala village near Gadoon mountains, the death toll climbed to 30 after rescue workers recovered more bodies from the rubble yesterday, one day after a cloudburst, said local district commissioner Nisar Khan.
At least nine more people are missing, he said.
Residents of the village of about 100 concrete houses in the mountains of Swabi district said a torrent of rocks came crashing onto homes, causing walls and roofs to collapse, as they were preparing for work on Monday morning. It started with a ‘horrible’, thunderous noise at about 8am, said Zeeshan Ali, a 20-year-old college student.
“It took away everything in one go, in seconds,” he said.
His buffalos, as well as other belongings including electrical goods were washed away, though his family was able to escape. “We are in need of assistance,” said another resident, 45-year-old Bakht Zaman.
Buner, to the north, received more than 150mm of rain within an hour triggered by a cloudburst on Friday morning, killing more than 200 people – the single most destructive event in this monsoon season.
A cloudburst is a rare phenomenon where more than 100mm of rain falls within an hour in a small area.
Bodies were still being recovered in the northwest, with an unspecified number of people missing, said Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, head of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
More than 25,000 people have been rescued so far from flood-hit areas, he said, with a total of 695 killed across Pakistan since late June.
The army and air force have joined rescue efforts.
In southern Pakistan, heavy rain flooded major roads in the port city of Karachi, causing traffic gridlock and power outages yesterday, a regional government spokesperson said.
Authorities said 145mm of rain had fallen in the city and that there could be more urban flooding in Pakistan’s south, including Karachi.
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