In Pakistan, at least 41 people have died, including 28 struck by lightning, due to heavy rains since Friday, the authorities of one of the countries most threatened in the world by extreme weather phenomena reported on Monday April 15.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued an alert for landslides and flash floods as meteorological services predict several more days of heavy rains in most provinces of the country.
Punjab, the largest and most populous in the country of 240 million people, recorded the heaviest human losses, according to the provincial section of the NDMA. Twenty-one people were killed there between Friday and Sunday when lightning struck rural areas, often exposed, she said.
In Baluchistan, in the southwest of the country, at least eight people died, including seven struck by lightning, also reports the NDMA delegation on site.
Threat of climate change
With some areas still submerged, schools in the province will remain closed until Tuesday as a precautionary measure, she adds. In the province of Sindh, in the coastal south, four people died in road accidents linked to heavy rainfall, local authorities said.
Torrential rains also killed eight people – including four children – in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in northwest Pakistan, causing houses to collapse, according to local authorities.
Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world, is among the most threatened by climate change. The monsoon, which will begin in June, is essential for replenishing the water resources of South Asia, to which it brings 70 to 80% of its annual precipitation, but it also brings tragedy and destruction each year.
In the summer of 2022, unprecedented floods submerged a third of the country, affecting more than 33 million people and killing more than 1,700 people.
