Nearly half a million people have crowded into camps after losing their homes in widespread flooding in Pakistan - with one-third of country underwater. Officials estimate that the flooding has affected more than 33 million people - one in seven of the population.
Pakistan's climate minister warned that Pakistan is on the “front line” of the world’s climate crisis after unprecedented monsoon rains arrived in mid-June, killing more than 1,136 people.
The rains stopped more than two days ago and floods in some areas have been receding. But Pakistanis in many parts of the country are still wading through waters that filled their homes or covered their town’s streets.
In one of the worst single incidents of the flooding, at least 11 people were killed on Monday when a boat that volunteer rescuers were using to evacuate two dozen people capsized in the flood-swollen waters of the Indus River near the southern city of Bilawal Pur, media reported. An unknown number are still missing from the capsizing.
Climate minister Sherry Rehman and meteorologists told the Associated Press (AP) that new monsoons were expected in September. Monsoons have hit earlier and more heavily than usual since the start of summer, officials say - most recently with massive rains last week that affected nearly the entire country.
"Literally, one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now, which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we've seen in the past," Ms Rehman told AFP news agency. "We've never seen anything like this."
Pakistan is accustomed to monsoon rains and flooding, Ms Rehman said, but not like this. “What we saw recently in the last eight weeks is unrelenting cascades of torrential rain that no monsoon has ever brought with it ever before,” she said.
The heavy rains are the latest in a series of catastrophes that Ms Rehman said are exacerbated by climate change, including heatwaves, forest fires and glacial lake outbursts. The damage reflects how poorer countries often pay the price for climate change largely caused by more industrialised nations.
Since 1959, Pakistan is responsible for only 0.4% of the world’s historic CO2 emissions. The US is responsible for 21.5%, China for 16.5% and the EU 15%.
“Climate knows no borders and its effects can be disproportionately felt,” Ms Rehman said. She added: "We’re on the front line of a global crisis.
"Literally, one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now, which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we've seen in the past."
The National Disaster Management Authority said floods this summer have killed more than 1,136 people and injured 1,636, as well as damaging one million homes. At least 498,000 people in the country of 220 million are in relief camps after being displaced, it said.
Many more displaced are believed to be living with relatives, friends or outside. International aid is starting to flow into Pakistan, and the military is helping distribute aid to remote areas and evacuate those who have lost their homes.
Authorities are starting the long effort of rebuilding roads and restarting railways. The floods have destroyed more than 150 bridges and numerous roads have been washed away, making rescue operations difficult.
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has approved the release of a much-awaited $1.17 billion dollars (£1 billion) for Pakistan, Pakistan’s information minister Maryam Aurangez said. The release of the funds had been on hold since earlier this year, when the IMF expressed concern about Pakistan’s compliance with the deal’s terms under former prime minister Imran Khan’s government.
Last week, the United Nations in a statement said that it had allocated $3 million (£2.5 million) for UN aid agencies and their partners in Pakistan to respond to the floods, and this money will be used for health, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation services in flood-affected areas, focusing on the most vulnerable.
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