Floods
As Pakistan battled to deal with the monsoon floods that has afflicted more than 33 million people, a sizable relief operation was under way Monday as foreign money started to trickle in.Hundreds of settlements in the hilly north have been shut off by flood-swollen rivers that are washing away roads and bridges, according to officials.
Although 1,061 people have perished since June, when the seasonal rains started, the eventual death toll may be higher.The Indian subcontinent’s yearly monsoon is crucial for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams, but it can also cause havoc.
One in seven Pakistanis, according to officials, were affected by this year’s flooding, which also severely damaged or destroyed close to a million homes.Sherry Rehman, the minister for climate change, referred to it as “the monster monsoon of the decade.”
