The death toll has risen up to 831 people, in Pakistan.
The intense Monsoon, has displaced an additional million people, forcing large rescue operations by the Pakistan Government, the Army and civil society organisations in the area.
Flooding continues in Pakistan’s Punjab.
Farzhana Naek, Chairperson of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said “this is an urgent humanitarian emergency. Each passing hour is crucial. We are calling on our partners and the international community to stand with the people of Pakistan. We are actively responding on the ground, but more support is urgently needed to save lives and prevent further suffering.”
Naek also said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched a 17 million Swiss Francs emergency appeal to support the PRCS in expanding its relief operations. This is in addition to CHF 1 million, from the IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF), in the early days of the crisis.
World Weather Attribution Scientists (WWA), found the rain that triggered the floods in northern Pakistan is now common, and is to be expected every five years, from late June into September.
Fahad Saeed, Senior Climate Scientist at Climate Analytics, who took part in the WWA study, said in August, “a record-breaking 48.5°C in northern Pakistan followed by deadly rains in July, is yet another stark reminder of what the country is enduring at just 1.3°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.
Things will be worse at the Paris Agreement’s temperature target of 1.5°C, but anything beyond this limit would be a death sentence for the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Pakistan.”
Picture: IFRC