Devastating floods overtake one third of Pakistan

The UN’s secretary general is calling on the world to raise $160 million for Pakistan as one-third of the South Asian country is submerged due to catastrophic flooding. 

Antonio Guterres, the secretary general, called the ongoing floods “a monsoon on steroids”. He went on to call South Asia a “climate crisis hotspot” due to the fact that  people there are 15 times more likely to die from the impact of climate change. 

Pakistan’s climate change minister Sherry Rehman echoed those sentiments, saying the flooding is a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions”. While Pakistan produces less than 1% of global greenhouse emissions, it is among the top 10 most affected by climate change. 

Videos of the floods posted online have shown entire buildings being washed away, while satellite images illustrate the staggering extent of the damages caused. The UN is estimating that more than 33 million Pakistanis, or one in seven people, have been affected by the flooding. 

Thousands of people are still attempting to evacuate but many have been trapped by the floods while millions of houses have been destroyed. Since June, over 1,100 people have been killed.