Pakistan is not to blame for a climate crisis-fuelled disaster that has flooded much of the country, the prime minister has said, as he made a desperate plea for international help in what he said was the “toughest moment” in the nation’s history.
“It is the toughest movement in the history of Pakistan. He has never seen such floods in his life … Now I say without fear, I have not seen such devastation in my life,” he said. “We request the international community to come and help us and standby us at this hour.” Up to $10 billion would be needed, he said, adding that there would be transparency on all funds that are donated.
UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that Pakistan was facing a “monsoon on steroids” as the government issued more flood warnings for the next 24 hours.Guterres said on Tuesday that south Asia was a hotspot for the climate crisis and that the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan that has left tens of millions needing help was a warning to every nation of the destruction wreaked by human-caused global heating.
In Pakistan, Balochistan and Sindh provinces have had more than four times the average rainfall of the last three decades.Majid Ali Bughio, 30, left his home town in Sindh with 20 extended family members in the early morning on Monday after they heard of breaches in a nearby embankment. The Indus highway, in Sindh, was submerged under two feet of water. The highway connects Sindh with Punjab and Balochistan provinces.
The flash flood triggered by an abnormal monsoon has washed away bridges, roads, houses, livestock and people across the country.