Misery for millions as monsoon pounds Pakistan port city

Shazad Akbar carried his four-year-old daughter on his shoulders Tuesday as he and his wife waded through knee-high water flooding a street in Surjani, a poor part of Pakistan's port city of Karachi.

His wife fell sick overnight, but Akbar couldn't take her to a doctor as heavy monsoon rains fell until morning, causing misery for the city of 15 million.

"I can only manage to come out now," Shazad told AFP as his burqa-clad wife hid behind him.

The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but also brings a wave of destruction each year.

This year's monsoon is being felt hardest in cities, where poor infrastructure and services lead to clogged drains and culverts -- and the collapse of the sewage system.

The result is widespread flooding, particularly in low-lying areas, and usually in poor neighbourhoods.

In Rahim Goth, a slum in the west of the city, locals were attempting to bail water from their shacks and dwellings using buckets, pots and jugs.

But their efforts appeared futile as they tipped the contents into streets already several feet deep.

- Climate change -

Sardar Sarfaraz, director of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, told AFP an "unprecedented" 568 millimetres (22.3 inches) of rain had fallen in the city this month -- nearly triple Karachi's recent averages and more than four times that of two decades ago.

Environmentalist Arif Zubair conceded monsoons can regularly cause natural havoc, but is clear what is to blame for the worsening situation -- climate change.

"(It) has engulfed all of South and Southeast Asia," he told AFP Tuesday.

"The recent (heavy) rains have certainly been an indicator of global climate change."

Pakistan ranks eighth on a list of countries most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change, according to the environment NGO Germwatch.

But the effects of climate change are also exacerbated by the mismanagement and negligence of authorities and policymakers, who critics accuse of being oblivious to the problems ahead.

Coastal Karachi is particularly prone to flooding because the city has expanded with scant planning on a landscape ill-suited to urban development.

"We are sitting on a climate bomb," Arif said.

Over 300 people have died as a result of the heavy monsoon rains this year, which have also washed away more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) of roads and 50 bridges, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

It said more than 10,000 homes had been damaged -- with Baluchistan province the worst hit.

In Rahim Goth, many residents have moved to rooftops to escape the flooding, stretching tarpaulin between poles to give them shelter from the incessant rain.

"People (officials) come every year to inquire about us, but every year we are doomed," Afsari Bano told AFP as she tried to cook a family meal.

She said most of the family's belongings -- furniture, bedding and other possessions -- were destroyed by flooding two years ago, and they were only just recovering.

Now she was surrounded by water in which floated soiled nappies and other garbage.

"Swarms of flies and mosquitos will follow now," the 50-year housewife said.

"If someone dies -- Allah forbid as life and death is in his hand -- it is next to impossible to hold a funeral."

Pakistan's biggest city paralysed by rain; C.Africa floods kill 13
Karachi (AFP) July 25, 2022 - A weather emergency was declared in Karachi Monday as heavier-than-usual monsoon rains continue to lash Pakistan's biggest city, flooding homes and making streets impassable.

Pakistan ranks eighth on a list of countries most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change, according to the environment NGO Germwatch.

The provincial Sindh government announced a public holiday Monday in Karachi and Hyderabad in a bid to avert flood chaos, but low-lying areas -- already drenched by weeks of heavy rain -- were soon the scenes of devastation.

"More rains are forecast in Karachi until tomorrow," warned Sardar Sarfraz, director of the Met office.

The National Disaster Management Authority said at least 312 people had died since June as a result of the monsoon rains.

In Karachi, at least two people were electrocuted Monday by power lines that fell into flooded streets -- a regular cause of death in the city during the monsoon.

The heavy downpour also disrupted flights and train operations in the megacity of 15 million.

The worst floods of recent times were in 2010 -- covering almost a fifth of the country's landmass -- killing nearly 2,000 people and displacing 20 million.

C.Africa floods kill 13, leave over 1,000 homeless
Bangui, Central African Republic (AFP) July 25, 2022 - At least 13 people died and more than 1,000 were left homeless after heavy rainfall triggered floods in the Central African Republic last week, the Red Cross told AFP on Monday.

Local Red Cross chief Antoine Mbao Bogo said he was "surprised" at a toll he described as unprecedented in a country where flooding is frequent.

According to a provisional toll, nine people died in Bouchia in the south, three in the eastern town of Bria and one in the capital Bangui, he said.

People from more than 1,300 households are without shelter, with Bangui particularly affected, humanitarian action minister Virginie Baikoua told AFP.

The government has put in place a taskforce to map out the hardest-hit neighbourhoods with a view to improving infrastructure and preventing further such disasters, she added.

"I lost everything, I don't even know where to go with my children," Bangui resident Safiatou Ngbedi, who escaped from her home moments before it collapsed, told AFP.

Josue Djazoundou, a petrol seller in Bangui, was worried that water from his well had been contaminated by the overflowing toilets nearby.

"I only pray that the children don't fall ill," he said.

The CAR is one of the world's poorest countries and more than half of its population requires humanitarian assistance, according to the World Bank.

In 2019, at least 28,000 people were left homeless by mass flooding after exceptionally heavy and continuous rainfall caused the Ubangi river and its tributaries to burst their banks.

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C.Africa floods kill 13, leave over 1,000 homeless
Bangui, Central African Republic (AFP) July 25, 2022
At least 13 people died and more than 1,000 were left homeless after heavy rainfall triggered floods in the Central African Republic last week, the Red Cross told AFP on Monday. Local Red Cross chief Antoine Mbao Bogo said he was "surprised" at a toll he described as unprecedented in a country where flooding is frequent. According to a provisional toll, nine people died in Bouchia in the south, three in the eastern town of Bria and one in the capital Bangui, he said. People from more than 1, ... read more