Monsoon flooding strands Punjab villagers as national death toll reaches 109

LAHORE: Monsoon flooding has swamped villages in Punjab’s Muridke district, forcing residents to flee by boat as the nationwide toll from rain-related incidents since June 26 reached 109.

Residents in the flooded area said many families remained trapped on Monday as water spread across fields and around homes. AFP journalists saw small motor boats being used by volunteers to move people to safer ground, while others were still stranded.

Iqra Salman, 32, said, "It has been four days, and no rescue team has reached us." She added, "We have no electricity, no clean water, and now we have completely run out of food supplies. We are surrounded by floodwater on all sides."

Official disaster agency figures show that flood-related incidents, including drowning and house collapses, have killed 109 people across Pakistan since June 26. About one-third of those deaths were recorded in Punjab.

Volunteer boats ferry residents to safety

Volunteer rescuers said they had started operations in around a dozen villages to evacuate people and help recover belongings. Haris Dar, a volunteer rescuer, said, "Four rescue boats... are actively conducting rescue operations, evacuating people stranded by the flooding."

Even after reaching safer ground, many displaced families were facing harsh conditions, sheltering in small tents in humid weather along the roadside near the floodwater.

Muhammad Ramzan, 45, said water rushed in during the early hours before his family home gave way. He said, "The water rose so rapidly that we had no opportunity to save or remove any of our belongings," adding, "We have lost everything and have nothing."

Climate pressures intensify monsoon risks

Pakistan remains highly vulnerable to climate-related shocks and has limited resources to adapt. The summer monsoon is vital for agriculture across South Asia, but changing climate patterns are making rainfall more erratic and destructive.

The country is still marked by the devastation of 2022, when what UN chief Antonio Guterres described as a "monsoon on steroids" killed around 1,700 people and submerged vast areas.

Elsewhere in the region, disaster authorities in Afghanistan said flash floods and heavy rainfall killed 34 people between July 20 and July 26, while a deluge in eastern Nuristan province left around 100 people missing.