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CBC
9 hours ago
- CBC
Pakistan expands flood rescue and relief efforts, warns about landslides
Social Sharing Rescue workers in northwestern Pakistan expanded relief operations Sunday after flash floods killed more than 220 people in a single district, officials said. Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was struck by cloudbursts and torrential monsoon downpours on Friday, triggering flash floods and landslides. An emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half of the damaged roads in the district have been reopened, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach isolated villages. Crews are clearing piles of rocks and mud dumped by the floods. They were using heavy machinery on Sunday to remove the rubble of collapsed homes after families reported that some of their relatives were missing. In one of the deadliest incidents, 24 people from one family died in the village of Qadar Nagar when floodwaters swept through their home on the eve of a wedding. The head of the family, Umar Khan, said he survived the floods because he was out of the house at the time. Four of his relatives have yet to be found, he added. Provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur visited Buner on Saturday and announced that families of the dead will receive payments of 2 million rupees ($7,200 US) each. He said tents, food, and clean drinking water are being provided to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases. WATCH | Six members of single family missing: Six members of one family missing in India landslide 8 days ago According to a government statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is monitoring the relief operations and has ordered faster distribution of aid, evacuation of stranded people, and intensified searches for the missing. Pakistan's disaster management authority has warned of more deluges and possible landslides between Aug. 17 and 19, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters. In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes. The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged northwest, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks. WATCH | More than 100 missing after flash flood: More than 100 missing after flash flooding in India 10 days ago Heavy rain brought flash flooding and mudslides to northern India, washing away homes and leaving more than 100 people missing. Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia. In Indian-controlled Kashmir, torrential rains triggered flash floods in two villages in Kathua district that killed at least seven people and injured five overnight, officials said. Rescue and relief operations are underway. In Kishtwar district, teams are continuing their efforts in the remote village of Chositi, looking for dozens of missing people after the area was hit by flash floods three days earlier. At least 60 were killed and some 150 injured, about 50 in critical condition, in the disaster. Thursday's floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Globe and Mail
Caribbean hurricane Erin not forecast to hit land, is expected to strengthen
Erin has strengthened into a powerful Category 4 hurricane in the Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center said Saturday. The storm is currently 240 kilometers northeast of Anguilla with maximum sustained winds of 215 kph. It is moving west-northwest at 31 kph. It is currently not forecast to hit land, but strong winds are affecting nearby islands, prompting forecasters to warn of possible flooding and landslides. The NHC said it will eventually swerve away from the continental United States. Tropical storm watches are in place for St. Martin and St. Barthelemy and Sint Maarten. Up to 10 centimeters are expected, with isolated totals of up to 15 centimeters, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. 'Locally, considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides, are possible,' the NHC said. Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said Erin is forecast to eventually take a sharp turn northeast that would put it on a path between the U.S. and Bermuda. 'All of our best consensus aids show Erin turning safely east of the United States next week, but it'll be a much closer call for Bermuda, which could land on the stronger eastern side of Erin,' he said. Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, but the first to reach hurricane status. 'Erin is forecast to explode into a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it moves across very warm waters in the open Atlantic. Water temperatures at the surface and hundreds of feet deep are several degrees higher than the historical average,' said Alex DaSilva, Accuweather's lead hurricane expert. This year's season is once again expected to be unusually busy. The forecast calls for six to 10 hurricanes, with three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 177 kph. The U.S. government has deployed more than 200 employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to Puerto Rico as a precaution as forecasters issued a flood watch for the entire U.S. territory from late Friday into Monday. Puerto Rico Housing Secretary Ciary Pérez Peña said 367 shelters have been inspected and could be opened if needed. The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that it closed six seaports in Puerto Rico and two in the U.S. Virgin Islands to all incoming vessels unless they had received prior authorization. Meanwhile, officials in the Bahamas said they prepared some public shelters as a precaution as they urged people to track the hurricane. 'These storms are very volatile and can make sudden shifts in movement,' said Aarone Sargent, managing director for the Bahamas' disaster risk management authority.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Globe and Mail
Search for survivors continues after Pakistan flash foods kill 220 people
Flooding in a northwest Pakistani district has killed at least 220 people, officials said Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by flash floods and landslides. One eyewitness, who escaped the deluges in Buner, described seeing floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders and 'tons of rocks' crashing down. Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, which experts link to climate change, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed some 541 people since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, one of several places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts caused massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away. First responders have been trying to recover bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the fatalities were, said Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner. Local police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, said floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders struck and flattened homes within minutes. 'A stream near Pir Baba village in Buner swelled without warning. At first, we thought it was a normal flash flood, but when tons of rocks came crashing down with the water, 60 to 70 houses were swept away in moments,' Khan told The Associated Press, adding that many bodies were left mutilated. 'Our police station was washed away too and if we hadn't climbed to higher ground, we would not have survived.' Rescuers said they saw large swathes of Pir Baba village destroyed, wrecked homes, and giant rocks filling the streets as the water started to recede. 'It was not just the floodwater, it was a flood of boulders as well, which we saw for the first time in our lives,' said Sultan Syed, 45, who suffered a broken arm. Mohammad Khan, 53, said the floods 'came so fast that many could not leave their homes.' Most victims died before reaching the hospital, said Mohammad Tariq, a doctor in Buner. 'Many among the dead were children and men, while women were away in the hills collecting firewood and grazing cattle,' he said. Mourners attended mass funerals on Saturday, while authorities supplied tents and food items to flood-affected people in Buner. Local cleric Mufti Fazal said he led funeral prayers at multiple locations since Friday morning. 'Before yesterday's floods, the area was bustling with life. Now, there is grief and sorrow everywhere.' Schoolteacher Suleman Khan lost 25 members of his extended family, saying he and his brother survived only because they were away from home when the floods hit his village Qadar Nagar. According to the provincial disaster management authority, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan. Nearly 300 kilometers away in Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers scoured the remote village of Chositi in the district of Kishtwar on Saturday, looking for dozens of missing people after it was hit by flash floods two days ago, killing 60 and injuring some 150, about 50 in critical condition. Thursday's floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the area. Authorities have rescued over 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to safety. Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor. Pakistani officials said rescuers since Thursday have evacuated more than 3,500 tourists trapped in flood-hit areas across the country. Many travelers have ignored government warnings about avoiding vulnerable regions in the north and northwest. Pakistan witnessed its worst-ever monsoon season in 2022. It killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40-billion in damage.
