Already suffering from the political and economic crisis, Pakistan faced massive floods this year, hitting different areas of the country, taking many lives and causing immense land destruction. These catastrophes result in long-term damage such as unemployment, displacement, food scarcity, diseases, and land destruction.
Pakistan is witnessing natural disasters since its inception in 1947 and is still facing the same wrecking.

1950 Floods:

Monsoon season can be unforgiving at times. In 1950, monsoon rainfall ended up killing more than 2,900 people countrywide. The Ravi River flooded and caused major destruction in Punjab, particularly in Lahore. In Sindh, more than 100,000 homes were destroyed causing displacement.

1970 East Pakistan Cyclone:

East Pakistan (Bangladesh) was hit by a cyclone in 1970 taking more than 500,000 lives. The Bhola tropical cyclone is considered to be one of the deadliest cyclones recorded.

1974 Earthquake:

A massive earthquake hit the northern part, particularly Swat, Hunza and Hazara in December 1974. It was recorded to be 6.2 surface wave magnitude. Homes were destroyed and around 5,300 people lost their lives. Rockfalls and landslides did further damage.

Drought in 2000:

Balochistan was hit by a deadly drought in 2000. Around 1.2 billion people were affected by this drought and more than 100 died. Livestock and crops were badly damaged resulting in food scarcity and unemployment.

2005 Earthquake:

One of the most memorable destructions in the history of Pakistan is the Earthquake of 2005. The fall of Margalla Towers in Islamabad and the split of the land of Azad Kashmir took thousands of lives. The estimated number of deaths is 73,000 people. The most affected areas were Neelum valley, Bagh district and Mansehra.

2007 Yemyin Cyclone:

In 2007 deadly cyclones visited the region of India and Pakistan causing massive land destruction. Hundreds of people lost their lives in Balochistan and Sindh. The cyclone resulted in the loss of more than two million livestock and more than 350,000 people displaced.

2010 land sliding in Hunza:

A landslide knocked the beautiful Attabad village, located in Hunza, in 2010 forming a valley that is famously known as the Attabad Valley now. The landslide buried the homes of the locals and killed around 20 people. The lake that destroyed the houses of the people has now become a tourist hub in Hunza.

2010 Floods:

Around 20 million people are believed to have been affected by the 2010 floods. The flood made its way in from Balochistan and it was just a matter of a month and a few days, and the water was spilling into different areas of Sindh. The estimated number of deaths is 1,700 people. The floods crushed the infrastructure, displaced millions of people and perished agriculture and livestock. The 2010 floods left a precedent since after that almost every year Pakistan faces floods in different areas and unfortunately is still unable to manage the disaster.

2011 Floods:

The highest recorded rainfall in Sindh was recorded in 2011 which was the major cause of floods. More than 434 people died and around 8.9 million people were affected.

2012 Floods:

Heavy rainfall in September 2012 ruined villages, farms, railways, canals and roads forcing around 10,000 people to move out of their homes. The main affected areas were Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. More than one hundred people lost their lives in the floods.

2013 Floods:

Flash floods were welcomed by heavy monsoon rainfall in 2013. More than 234 people died and it affected more than 1.5 million people in different areas of the country.

2014 Floods:

In September 2014, different areas were affected by floods, especially the Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Punjab and Gilgit. Around 367 people died, more than 250,000 farmers got affected and around one million acres of land were destroyed.

2015 Floods:

Pakistan experienced an earthquake and flood that ended up killing more than 232 deaths in 2015.

2016 Floods:

Various parts of the country were affected by heavy rainfall in 2016 mainly in Punjab and KPK.

2017

Balochistan was hit with widespread floods in January 2017. More than 60,000 people were affected by it.

2018- 2019

With the rise in temperature, Pakistan experienced droughts in Southern Pakistan which lead to food and water scarcity. More than five million people were affected by the drought in Sindh and Balochistan.

2020-2022

From landslides to floods, natural disasters became frequent between 2020-22. Floods hit different areas during the monsoon season and more than 400 deaths were reported countrywide in 2020. Calamity struck Pakistan in the form of floods in 2022. The government issued a national emergency but by the time it did, it was already too late. Houses were destroyed, roads washed away and people displaced. More than 1,700 people lost their lives, more than 12,000 people were injured, more than 850,000 houses were destroyed and more than 5.5 million of cropland was affected. The deadly floods carried away more than 430 bridges and took the lives of more than 1.1 million livestock. Foreign aid was provided to Pakistan and different Non-governmental organizations actively worked to provide help to the affected people.

In all these years, different plans and strategies have been made to manage disasters in Pakistan but evidently, the situation remains the same more or less. In fact, it has worsened.  In all these years, Pakistan has clearly failed to manage disaster control. There has been a flood almost every year since 2010 and the recent one plainly shows how grave the situation is. It is time to form a proper disaster management system now to prevent such damage in the future.