Pakistan flood history since 2010
Floods in Pakistan appear consistently year by year. The bad infrastructure of the country causes the floods to become one of the prominent issues affecting the country. The changing seasonal patterns due to global warming and bad governance with weak policies have further deteriorated the situation.
One of the major floods in Pakistan’s flood history came in 2010. These floods came in late July after the heavy monsoon season and affected Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some parts of Balochistan. 20 million people were affected during these floods along with the damage of infrastructure, livelihood and property. This flooding had an immense damage to Pakistan’s economy also. An estimated US$4 billion damage had occurred to structures. Over US$500 million worth of wheat crop was damaged. Total economic impact was estimated around US$43 billion causing a major blow to the country’s economy.
In 2011, the heaviest rainfall occurred in Sindh province between 11 August and 14 September. These floods mocked the governmental promises of better infrastructural planning. Sindh is the Fertile region of the country and the floods affected the agrarian economy of the country. 1.7 million acres of land was damaged by the floods. The death count and damage of livestock was incomparable.
In 2012, September came with the news of heavy rainfalls. Before that meteorologists were predicting drought situations. The floods affected Balochistan, lower Punjab, upper Sindh but mainly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These flash floods caused 455 deaths. Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur were severely damaged and 5 easter cities of Balochistan were completely cut off from the country. A total of 2.8 million people were affected by the floods.
In 2013, Pakistan was yet again affected by a flood situation. 1.5 million people and 1.5 million acre crops were affected. Only in Rajanpur 165,000 people were affected. 408 relief camps had to be made to house 4000+ people.
In 2014, northern areas of Pakistan suffered flooding due to torrential rainfall. Azad Kashmir, Indian occupied Kashmir and upper Punjab suffered heavy rainfall and floods. 277 people died in India while 280 died in Pakistan.
In 2015, during monsoon season in July, River Indus flooded in different areas of Pakistan. 285,000 people were alone affected in Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Aside that Sindh, Punjab and Baltistan were also affected. The Pakistan army and government worked hand in hand to relieve and rescue the affected people.
2016 came with another flood to add into Pakistan’s flood history. March and April came with heavy rainfall and damage to the country’s economy. 62 lives were washed away by floods Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa had the most fatalities around 53% while landslides in Karakoram caused food shortages in Gilgit Baltistan. In August, the country faced flooding again. During these floods a bus filled with 27 people got stuck claiming the lives of all on board.
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January of 2017 called for an emergency situation in Balochistan with heavy floods in 3 districts. 60,000 people were under the effects of the spell and the government had to take over the Red Crescent Society.
Punjab was under the spell in 2018. In Lahore 6 people’s lives were claimed. On 4th of July, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) claimed that Bahawalpur had recorded 75 mm , Murree 47mm and Kamra 40 mm of rain in a spell of 24 hours. Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Faisalabad and Khanewal had fatalities.
Yet again 2019 came in to add in the list of Pakistan’s flood history. From February to April, Pakistan was hit by 3 waves of floods. In February floods Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan were the affected areas where in Balochistan alone 1500 people were affected by the flood. In August, the north eastern areas of Pakistan were under floods. There were a lot of landslides and avalanches adding into the overall impact of the floods. There were 225 fatalities and 165 injuries. 18 bridges and 670 houses were damaged in the floods. Last spell of the year came in September where it affected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 8 casualties had been identified apart from the injuries and infrastructural damages.
Moving forward to September 2020 another flood was written off in Pakistan ‘s flood history. 400 people were dead. 200,000 people were affected and 800 families were threatened by an outbreak. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan were affected by these floods. The agricultural economy faced a massive blow when crops of tomato, sugar cane, cotton, vegetables and onions were destroyed.
In 2021 floods there were 160 people who died. 240 houses were damaged and 257 were completely destroyed by the massive waters of September. 13 roads and 9 bridges were also destroyed causing infrastructural damages in the country.
Moving to the recent times, Pakistan has yet again been affected by a calamity. Uptil now, 30 million people have been affected by the recent floods in the country. Balochistan and Sindh have been hit the hardest. The torrential rains have caused 900 deaths till now and the situation is still not under control. The massive floods and peak of heat has led to shortage of clean water supply with cholera outbreak in the affected areas. People from all over the country have been sending aids to provide for the affected people. Government is taking steps to rescue and relieve the people in affected areas. Aside from that, international aid is coming in for the people.
According to Pakistan’s flood history it is clear that the country is suffering from excessive floods that are constantly damaging the country’s growth and economy. The surface water storage capacities need to be increased along with an increase in the number of proper flood protection structures. The natural drainage system needs to be settled apart from fixing the inadequate discharge capacities of barrages and bridges. It is crucial for the government to divert their attention towards this crucial issue and work on deriving better planning and effective policies.
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