Pakistan restores electricity, reopens roads after floods kill hundreds

Al Jazeera

2 days ago

Pakistan has restored 70 percent of electricity service and reopened damaged roads in the north and northwest after flash floods killed more than 300 people, officials say.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Tuesday that engineers were working to fully restore the electricity system that was knocked out by flooding last week.
Monsoon rains triggered floods that have killed more than 700 people nationwide since June 26, the National Disaster Management Authority reported, while Tarar said more than 25,000 people have been evacuated.
The information minister said most roads have been cleared, facilitating the supply of food and other essentials to flood-affected areas.
Army spokesman Ahmed Sharif said military doctors are treating survivors and engineers are repairing damaged infrastructure. Soldiers using helicopters have also delivered food and supplies to remote villages cut off by floods and landslides.
Monsoon rains continued to lash the country on Tuesday, including the southern port city of Karachi, flooding streets and disrupting everyday activities, officials said. Despite the government's claims of preparedness, people could be seen wading through chest-high water along many roads.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered authorities to accelerate recovery efforts in Buner, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and a cloudburst on Friday killed at least 280 people, Tarar said. It was among the worst flooding since the rains began,
Twenty bodies were found on Tuesday there, the local district commissioner said.
Rescue teams are still searching for about 150 missing people, rescue official Mohammad Suhail said.
Angry villagers said there was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, as is often the case, and government relief has been slow. The government said the deluge struck before residents could be informed.
Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review relief efforts in flood-hit areas.
Every year, many cities in Pakistan struggle to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about poor planning. The monsoon season runs from July through September.
Authorities have warned of a possible repeat of Pakistan's catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed more than 1,700 people and were blamed on climate change.