Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has doubled the compensation for families of those killed in devastating floods earlier this year, officials said Friday.
Nearly 1,000 people were killed and as many injured in the monsoon floods, which began in upstream rivers before flowing into the Arabian Sea, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Initial estimates suggest more than 12,500 homes were damaged and over 6,500 livestock lost.
Between June and September, some 3 million people were rescued and evacuated.
Authorities say rehabilitation remains a daunting task, with the full scale of devastation expected to become clear once floodwaters recede.
Officials have warned of 22% higher rainfall next year.
The latest figures were shared at a Senate Standing Committee meeting chaired by Rana Mehmood ul Hassan and attended Senators Saadia Abbasi, Ata-ur-Rehman, Aimal Wali Khan, Mohammad Abdul Qadir, Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan and Shahadat Awan, along with senior disaster officials.
Disaster management chief Inam Haider Malik said this year’s flooding was worsened by converging weather systems arriving from the east, south and west — a first for Pakistan.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal blamed shifting weather patterns, saying climate change has made extreme flooding the “new normal.”
“But it isn’t unmanageable,” Iqbal said.
Pakistan, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has faced repeated flooding in recent years.
In 2022, unprecedented monsoon rains washed away roads, crops, and bridges, killing at least 1,000 people.
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