Rescue and relief efforts continued in Sindh’s flood-hit Dadu district on Thursday, with water up to “eight to nine foot” in some places, according to an official, as Pakistanis brace for another spell of above-normal rains this month.
Abnormal heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered floods that have submerged a third of the country and killed at least 1,191 people, including 399 children since June 14, National Disaster Management Authority’s daily update showed.
Twenty-seven more people died in the previous 24 hours. In Sindh’s Dadu district, parts of which have been inundated due to waters coming in from the north, Khairpur Nathan Shah has been the hardest hit so far.
“Flood water is standing eight to nine foot high in Khairpur Nathan Shah city,” Dadu District Commissioner Syed Murad Ali Shah told reporters. He added that the military and paramilitary Rangers were assisting relief efforts.
“Rangers DG Major General Iftikhar Hassan and Brigadier Hasanat and Ijaz from the Pakistan Army are [leading] the relief operation,” Shah added. He added that Johi, located at a distance of eight kilometres, had been cut off from Dadu city in the aftermath of flash floods.
Some 60 kilometres north, residents of Mehar gathered to form new dikes and reinforce existing ones using sandbags near a major highway that was deluged by water overnight.
“We have been working to make and reinforce this dike since early morning,” Damshad Ali, 20, told Reuters, vowing to stay in the flood-stricken area with his family.
