Monsoon rains claim 77 lives in Pakistan

Islamabad – AFP
At least 77 people have died in monsoon rains in Pakistan, the Minister of Climate Change announced on Wednesday, warning of more rain than usual later.
“In my opinion, it is a national tragedy,” Sherry Rahman said at a press conference in the capital, confirming the total number of victims since the start of the rainy season on June 14. “It’s not so simple when people die like this,” she said. “It’s only the beginning. We have to be ready.”
Most of the victims died in Balochistan state (southwest), where 39 people died either drowning or electrocuted due to falling power lines. The monsoon season, which usually lasts from June to September, is needed to irrigate crops and fill lakes and dams across the Indian peninsula, but every year it brings with it a wave of devastation.
The heaviest floods in the past few years date back to 2010, when one-fifth of the land was inundated with water, killing about 2,000 people and displacing 20 million people. Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country to extreme weather events due to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index, compiled by the non-governmental organization German Watch.
“One day we see a drought and the next morning we expect floods,” Rehman said. “You can see how serious the situation is in Pakistan.”