The intense rain has claimed lives and spread destruction in several northern districts, with most people killed in flash floods, according to the National Disaster Management Authority
BUNER, Pakistan: Heavy rain in northwest Pakistan halted rescue and relief operations for several hours on Monday before resuming in the northwest region where flash floods have killed over 300 people since Friday, officials said.
The intense rain has claimed lives and spread destruction in several northern districts, with most people killed in flash floods, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
In hilly areas, the rains caused flash floods as well as mud and rock slides that washed away houses, buildings, vehicles and belongings.
“It was like a doomsday scenario,” 24-year-old university student Sahil Khan told Reuters TV, describing the flash floods. “Everybody is scared. Children are scared. They cannot sleep.”
Buner district was the worst hit, with over 200 deaths.
Heavy rain in the flood-hit areas, including Buner, forced rescue teams to halt relief efforts for several hours on Monday, a regional government officer, Abid Wazir, told Reuters.
“Our priority is now to clear the roads, set up bridges and bring relief to the affected people,” he said.
Residents in Buner’s Bayshonai Kalay village panicked and ran to higher ground after a water channel that had earlier overflowed and caused major devastation started swelling with the fresh rain on Monday, according to Reuters witnesses.
Rescuers from local government, the disaster management authority and the army used excavator machines to clear the roads and streets from mud, fallen trees and electric poles.
Relief goods have been sent to the affected areas, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a recorded video statement on Monday.
Food, medicine, blankets, camps, an electric generator and de-watering pumps are included in the relief goods, the authority said in a statement.
Buner, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital Islamabad, was hit by a cloudburst, a rare phenomenon in which more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain falls within an hour in a small area, officials said.
In Buner, there was more than 150 mm of rain within an hour on Friday morning, they said.
More heavy rain was expected across Pakistan until early September, officials said.
“The current weather system is active over the Pakistan region and may cause heavy to very heavy rainfall during the next 24 hours,” the disaster management authority said on Sunday.Torrential rains and flooding this monsoon season have killed 657 people across Pakistan since late June, it said.