All resources need to be gathered to help out floods victims: Sherry Rehman

ISLAMABAD, August 25 (SABAH): Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman has termed the situation erupted after heavy rains in Balochistan and Sindh, a national emergency.

The minister said that the “entirety of Pakistan’s south” was inundated and all resources would have to be gathered for this major crisis. She said the Pakistan Army and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were active in relief and rescue operations.

Providing some figures of the damage so far, Rehman said 20 million people were rendered homeless or without shelter.

She said that 913 deaths had already been recorded. “This is a very big figure and the time has come for the world to help us,” Rehman added.

The minister said that such a devastating monsoon season was unprecedented and called it “very rare” and “unexpected”.

“This is Pakistan’s main crisis at this time … a climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. Thousands are without shelter and many without food and stranded,” she said, adding that it was beyond the capability of the provinces or Islamabad to rehabilitate and manage alone and needed international help.

Rehman said that the NDMA was currently working on a needs assessment survey that would be completed soon and is a requirement for international donors and aid.

One element she outlined as hindering rebuilding operations was the continuous monsoon spell that she termed a “monster monsoon”. She said that no let up in the rains meant no time or space for anything other than rescue and relief operations, adding that there were reports about a similar spell arriving in September as well.

Rehman decried the lack of resources as a major problem, adding that climate resilience programmes needed millions of dollars. She pointed out that it was also important to conduct climate risk assessment since climate change was occurring so fast that extreme weather events were becoming more frequent.

The minister said the country would have to think about unusual strategies, take technical advice from the world and increasingly use scientific modelling.

“There should only be one singular focus in Pakistan right now, which is the resourcing, coordination and provision of relief to millions stranded by the monster monsoons hitting Pakistan in a cascade of catastrophic cycles,” she later tweeted.