Pakistan warns of upcoming glacial floodings as intense rainfalls continue

Pakistan has issued a warning about glacial flooding in the northwest with more rain forecast in the coming week, as the country is plagued by intense rainfalls this monsoon season. 

The local disaster management authority announced that downpours are heavier in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province than the same period last year, prompting weather advisories and alerts for flooding from glacial lake outbursts, Caliber.Az reports citing AP. 

The weather conditions are particularly crippling for the country as it continues to struggle to recover from the devastating floods in 2022.

The weather advisory alert comes after the authority sent out a letter earlier this month saying “persistent high temperatures may accelerate snow and glacier melt and subsequent weather events” in vulnerable parts of the region, highlighting the unproportionally heavy burden Pakistan has to carry due to climate change.

Officials spoke of “severe destruction” in some areas and damage to houses, infrastructure, crops, and businesses. Search operations were under way to find missing people on the Babusar Highway, where flooding struck nine villages while helicopters rescued tourists stuck in a popular spot, Fairy Meadows.

In the neighbouring Gilgit-Baltistan region, which is home to more glaciers than any other country on Earth outside the polar regions, the government said it had distributed hundreds of tents, thousands of food packets, and medicine to flood-affected communities. Three people died there this week when a cloudburst caused floods and landslides, stranding more than 200 tourists who were later rescued.

By Nazrin Sadigova