Catastrophic Impact of Floods in Pakistan: Assessing the Tragic Toll on Humans due to the Flood Disaster
In the heart of South Asia, Pakistan is battling a relentless onslaught of climate-related disasters. Ranked as the eighth most vulnerable country in the world to such disasters, the nation has been grappling with escalating floods that have displaced millions, claimed countless lives, and left countless more with mental health issues and physical injuries.
In 2022, floods displaced eight million people, killed over 1,700, and injured over 13,000. By mid-July 2025, the relentless monsoon rains and flash floods had already claimed 163 lives across the country. The River Sawan and Nullah Lai in Rawalpindi overflowed due to heavy rain, while urban flooding in Islamabad allegedly caused by a cloudburst affected Saidpur village.
Obaidullah, a flood survivor from 2022, was stranded on a rock as floodwaters raged around him, witnessing his friends being swept away. Rustam, an 80-year-old farmer, described the despair he felt during the same floods, with around five feet of water in his home and his village being destroyed. Asif Shehzad lost his home and livelihood due to unrelenting rains in an unspecified year.
Saadeqa Khan, Editor-in-Chief of a magazine, experienced urban flooding in her area near Margalla Hills. Unplanned constructions and housing societies in urban areas block natural water flow, contributing to floods. Despite contributing less than one percent to global carbon emissions, Pakistan faces significant climate-related disasters. Outbreaks of waterborne diseases and deadly heat strokes often go under-addressed after disasters in Pakistan.
Current efforts to address urban flooding and climate change impacts in Pakistan focus on emergency response, improving early warning systems, and calls for better water management infrastructure. Organizations such as Alkhidmat and Global Empowerment Mission are active on the ground providing food, supplies, and aid to displaced and affected populations during the 2025 flood crisis. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issues frequent flood alerts, warnings for urban populations, and promotes safety measures to prevent casualties.
NDMA uses real-time weather monitoring and issues fresh flood alerts for vulnerable river basins and urban areas to help communities prepare ahead of floods. However, Pakistan’s fragile drainage infrastructure in major cities like Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi is widely noted as inadequate, leading to severe urban flooding during intense rainfall. Experts emphasize the need for enhanced urban watershed management, rainwater harvesting, and increased dam storage capacity to better manage floodwaters and avoid loss through runoff.
While immediate humanitarian and disaster management efforts are ongoing, there is a clear need for long-term policies focusing on integrated urban flood resilience planning with improved drainage and floodwater storage, reforestation and improved land use to reduce flash floods, and investment in climate-resilient infrastructure to cope with extreme weather volatility linked to climate change.
The fear and trauma caused by climate-related disasters in Pakistan often linger long after the floodwaters recede, causing invisible suffering. Climate-related disasters in Pakistan are seen as a recurring reality rather than rare events. Without urgent action from both the international community and Pakistan's leadership, millions will continue to pay the price for a climate crisis they did little to cause. Climate financing, disaster-resilient infrastructure, and accessible mental health services are essential for survival in the face of future disasters.
- The nation's focus on handling climate-related disasters extends to the realms of health-and-wellness, as mental health issues increasingly plague survivors of floods in Pakistan.
- For many like Obaidullah, Rustam, and Asif Shehzad, climate change is not just an environmental science concern, but a primary cause of personal loss and upheaval in their lives.
- In the general news, discussions about climate change in Pakistan are often underscored by the ongoing crises in crime-and-justice, as the lack of adequate drainage infrastructure and water management facilities contribute to instances of urban flooding.
