Climate change has worsened the effects of annual monsoon rains and cloudbursts, experts have said. - Photo: Rescue 1122 Emergency Department/AP Photo/picture alliance
ISLAMABAD: Flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed more than 250 people in Pakistan and India, and led to severe devastation across the South Asian region.
At least 194 people have died and 23 injured in the past 24 hours, according to the latest details by Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people were killed and more than 100 injured in India’s northernmost region of Jammu and Kashmir, Press Trust of India reported.
Local police and other agencies are conducting search and rescue operations in the region of Kishtwar in India, about 200 kilometres from capital Srinagar and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan that is the hardest hit.
Authorities are estimating that scores of people are still buried under the debris in India.
Pakistan has rescued more than 2,000 people stranded in the floods so far and commenced rescue operations for those stranded, according to posts by the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
In a post on X on Friday, India’s Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he will "review the rescue operation and assess what further help is required.”
India’s weather department has predicted above-average rainfall during the June-September monsoon season.
Cloudbursts, floods, and landslides have caused significant loss of life and property in the recent months, with hilly areas being the worst affected.
Last week, flash floods swept away an entire village in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
At least 477 have been killed in Pakistan since June due to the flash floods.
The country’s disaster management authority has estimated this year’s monsoon to be 65% more intense than last year.
It said future rainy seasons are likely to be more severe due to the changing climate patterns. - Bloomberg
