Pakistan floods: UN chief says ‘never seen climate carnage on this scale' as death toll nears 1,400
1 min read . Updated: 10 Sep 2022, 08:03 PM IST
Premium- UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday exhorted the international community to step up efforts to help flood-ravaged Pakistan
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said he had never witnessed "climate carnage" to the degree of the devastation caused by vast flooding in Pakistan.
"I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen climate carnage on this scale. I have simply no words to describe what I have seen today," he said at a press conference in the port city of Karachi.
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday exhorted the international community to step up efforts to help flood-ravaged Pakistan, while conceding "what the UN is doing in Pakistan is a drop in the ocean of what is needed," terming the devastation in the country as “unimaginable."
Secretary General Guterres made these comments in Sukkur in Pakistan’s Sindh province, where he was visiting flood-hit areas.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefed Guterres about the devastation caused by the floods during their flight to visit flood affected areas of Balochistan and Sindh.
Taking an aerial view of the flood-affected regions, the UN chief termed the devastation as 'unimaginable'.
Countries vulnerable to climate change, including Pakistan, must be supported to rebuild resilient communities and infrastructure to resist future disasters, Guterres said, as he rounded-off the two-day solidarity trip to the country.
Nearly 1,400 people have died in flooding that covers a third of Pakistan-- an area the size of the United Kingdom -- wiping out crops and destroying homes, businesses, roads and bridges.
Pakistan says it will cost at least $10 billion to rebuild and repair -- an impossible sum for the deeply indebted nation -- but the priority is food and shelter for 33 million people affected.
Pakistan receives heavy -- often destructive -- rains during its annual monsoon season, which are crucial for agriculture and water supplies.
But downpours as intense as this year's have not been seen for decades, and Pakistan officials blame climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world.
