Floods following heavy rains have caused devastation in Afghanistan. At least 17 people died and 11 were injured in this disaster. The floods have affected more than 1,800 families and also damaged infrastructure.
Kabul: Heavy rains and snowfall in Afghanistan have ended a long drought, but many areas have experienced flash floods. At least 17 people died and 11 others were injured. Mohammad Yusuf Saeedi, spokesman for the governor of Herat province, said that the dead included five members of the same family when a roof collapsed on Thursday in Kabakan district of Herat province. Two children were also among the victims.
According to Mohammad Yousuf Hammad, spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA), most of the deaths have occurred in flood-hit districts since Monday. This bad weather has also disrupted normal life in the central, northern, southern and western regions. The floods have damaged infrastructure, killed livestock and affected 1,800 families, worsening conditions in already vulnerable urban and rural communities.
The agency has sent teams to the worst-affected areas for assessment, and surveys are underway to ascertain further needs, he said. A video clip seen by Al Jazeera on In another video, several people were seen desperately struggling to save their lives after their bus overturned in strong flood currents.
According to Al Jazeera, Afghanistan, like neighboring Pakistan and India, is very vulnerable to extreme weather events, especially flash floods that occur after seasonal rains. Decades of conflict, poor infrastructure, deforestation and the growing effects of climate change have exacerbated the impact of such disasters, especially in remote areas where many homes are made of mud and offer little protection.
In August, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Afghanistan near its border with Pakistan, killing more than 1,400 people. Efforts to rescue people affected by the earthquake were hampered by flash floods in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, which shares its border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The United Nations and other aid agencies warned this week that Afghanistan will remain one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises well into 2026, according to Al Jazeera.