Flooding forces residents to flee homes by boat in Pakistan

But even when brought to safety, residents faced difficult conditions, sleeping in small tents in humid heat, nestled between the huge body of water and the road. 

Muhammad Ramzan, 45, recalled water rushing in during the early hours of the morning shortly before his family’s house collapsed.

“The water rose so rapidly that we had no opportunity to save or remove any of our belongings,” he said.

“We have lost everything and have nothing,” he added. 

Pakistan is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with limited resources for adaptation.

While South Asia’s seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, flash floods and heavy rainfall killed 34 people between July 20-26, according to disaster authorities, including a deluge in eastern Nuristan province that left around 100 missing. 

In 2022, what UN chief Antonio Guterres called a “monsoon on steroids” caused havoc across Pakistan, killing around 1,700 people and submerging huge areas of the country.