The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday warned that three more monsoon spells are expected in the coming weeks, with rainfall intensity forecast to be 50 percent higher than normal.
“Urban flooding is likely in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other major cities,” NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik said at a press conference in Islamabad.
He confirmed that 313 lives have been lost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts, including Buner, Bajaur and Battagram, while additional deaths were reported from Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Sindh, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Islamabad.
Haider noted that the monsoon system, expanded by extreme summer heat, will continue until early September. He added that surveys will be conducted to assess damages, and restoration of communication infrastructure will be prioritised.
Relief packages will be distributed in high-casualty districts, while search operations for missing persons are ongoing, he said. The NDMA will also coordinate with the Communications and Housing ministries for infrastructure rehabilitation.
“This scale of loss is part of climate change impacts. As a nation, we must collectively confront these challenges,” Haider stressed, adding that the next two weeks’ focus will be on northern Punjab, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He underlined that early warning systems are critical to minimising future damage.
NDMA’s warning comes hours after the Director General of PDMA KP, Asfandyar Khattak, told media that the death toll from flash floods in KP has crossed 300, with Buner district suffering the heaviest losses.
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