Foreign media reportsas Pakistan reels from flood deaths, disease and displacement

LAHORE: The havoc wreaked by floods that have till date left hundreds of Pakistanis dead, injured and homeless has now flashed quite a few headlines in global media houses like the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the 204-year-old “Guardian” newspaper and the eminent German multilingual Television Network of Deutsche Welle (DW) etc. during the last two days or so.

While the British broadcaster is running comprehensive reports on Pakistani flash floods, stating more than 300 people have lost lives across the country, with most of the deaths recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Bonn-based “DW” has shed light on how landslides have swept away the humans nearby.

The “Guardian” has primarily highlighted incidents where bodies were pulled out from the rubble of collapsed homes and flooded villages in Buner district.

These reputed media outlets are also reporting on how properties, infrastructure and livestock worth billions of rupees have been affected by cloudbursts and monsoon rains.

In 2022, according to the Doha-based “Al-Jazeera Television,” downpours in Pakistan had swelled rivers, and at one point, inundated one-third of the country, killing at least 1,739 people. The 2022 floods had also caused $30 billion in damages.

The World Bank Group had revealed: “The 2022 flood assessment shows that total damages will exceed $14.9 billion, and total economic losses are likely to reach about $15.2 billion. Estimated needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a resilient way are at least $16.3 billion, not including much needed new investments beyond the affected assets, to support Pakistan’s adaptation to climate change and overall resilience of the country to future climate shocks.”

Research shows that about 31 percent Pakistani citizens living in low-lying areas are at a high risk of flooding, as rising sea levels and global climate changes have made the matters worse, as is the case in China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt, Korea, Iraq etc.

Natural disasters and global perspective:

Many people in Europe also live in areas where flooding is a high possibility. While 18 percent of Germans live in areas where they’re at increased likelihood of flooding, 13 percent Russians and 11 percent Spaniards also live in a high-risk flood areas.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) states: “Currently, the annual average losses associated with flooding amount to $388 billion globally. By 2050, this figure is likely to rest between $407 billion and $439 billion. These losses primarily include infrastructure damage from riverine flooding. Recent data suggest floods account for 35 to 40 percent of weather-related disaster occurrences.

Between 1970 and 2019, water-related hazards accounted for 50 percent of all disasters and 45 percent of all reported deaths. Since 2000, the number of recorded flood-related disasters has risen by 134 percent compared with the two previous decades.”

The UNDRR adds: “Earthquakes account for 25.6 percent of global disaster losses. They continue to cause high death tolls despite major advances in understanding earthquake risk, and in deploying improved engineering techniques to reduce loss of life. Since 1900, some 12 earthquakes have had single-event fatality totals of 50,000 or more, with five of these events occurring in 2000 or after. The most recent was the 2023 quake in Turkiye, which killed 50,000 humans. Another 87,000 lost lives in northwest Syria as vulnerable multi-story buildings collapsed. Between 1970 and 2023, the economic cost of geophysical disasters like earthquakes accounted for an estimated $1.59 trillion. The direct impacts of some 24,433 reports floods, storms, droughts and extreme heat worldwide led to more than $5.18 trillion in economic losses, while other disasters totaled an additional $0.10 trillion. Hazards like floods and earthquakes can also trigger compound disasters, such as landslides in mountainous areas, which have associated average annual economic losses estimated to be $26 billion globally.”

On the issue of storms, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that they account for up to 35 percent of total recorded disaster costs, driven by high winds, storm surges and heavy rainfall.

This sister organisation of the United Nations further asserts: “Between 1970 and 2019, water-related hazards accounted for 50 percent of all disasters and 45 percent of all reported deaths. Floods and storms are responsible for a range of often unaccounted indirect impacts to people and planet, destroying ecosystems and driving disaster-related displacement. The number of people exposed to floods globally has also steadily risen from 28.1 million in 1970 to 35.1 million in 2020 — an increase of 24.9 percent. Most flood-related deaths and economic losses are recorded in Asia. Average annual losses from tropical cyclones alone are estimated at $119.5 billion, including $95.5 billion in infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, Oxfam, a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organisations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, noted in one of its 2024 reports that in 10 worst-hit countries, floods and droughts have forced eight million people to flee in 2023.

These countries, where largest displacement of people was recorded, include Pakistan, India, Malaysia, China, Somalia, Brazil, Philippines, Kenya, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.