Pakistan floods: Pictures of the scale of destruction and losses exceeding 10 billion dollars

Weather of Arabia - Monsoon rains have caused devastating floods in Pakistan, leaving millions homeless, destroying buildings, bridges and roads, and leaving vast swaths of the country under water.

Flash floods and landslides along the Indus and Kabul rivers left more than 1,000 dead and 1,600 injured, with the southern regions of Balochistan and Sindh hardest hit. The mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also severely affected.

The Indus River, which flows through the Indus and Baluchistan, is fed by mountainous tributaries in the north of the country, many of which have erupted on their banks after record rains and melting glaciers.

(The map shows the number of houses destroyed in the different regions.)

Government and military helicopters were called in to rescue stranded villagers and tourists, as well as deliver aid.

The United Nations estimates that about 33 million Pakistanis - one in seven people - have been affected by the floods, with more than 500,000 homes destroyed or damaged.

The raging floodwaters washed away 700,000 head of livestock and damaged more than 3.6 million acres of crops - eliminating cotton, wheat, vegetable and fruit crops.

"Millions are left homeless, schools and health facilities destroyed, livelihoods destroyed, vital infrastructure destroyed and people's hopes and dreams swept away by floods," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

He was speaking in launching an appeal to raise £137 million to help provide 5.2 million people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education, protection and health support.

Climate change is hitting hard

Pakistan's climate change minister says more than a third of the country has been completely inundated by the most intense monsoon rains in a decade.

Pakistani officials and others have blamed climate change for increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Pakistan floods were a signal to the world to step up action against climate change.

The disaster comes at a difficult time for Pakistan, with its economy in critical condition. In its appeal for international assistance, the government declared a state of emergency, and the United Nations launched a formal appeal for $160 million on Tuesday to fund emergency aid.

These are satellite images of the devastated flooded areas in Pakistan :

Source: BBC + TheGuardian