Provincial disaster authority warns of continued flooding risks across multiple districts
DERA ISMAIL KHAN/PESHAWAR – Another wave of monsoon fury has swept through northern Pakistan, claiming 12 more lives on Sunday as torrential rains unleashed deadly flash floods and landslides. The latest casualties bring the regional death toll to over 460 in just two weeks of relentless weather.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province continues to bear the brunt of this year’s devastating monsoon season, with fresh tragedies reported across multiple districts.
Dera Ismail Khan Bears Heavy Toll
The district of Dera Ismail Khan suffered the worst of Sunday’s carnage, with nine fatalities including women and children, while more than 50 residents sustained injuries. Powerful winds reaching speeds of 100 kilometers per hour, coupled with heavy downpours, battered the area through the night.
The destruction was widespread and severe. Houses crumbled under the assault, their walls and roofs no match for the storm’s intensity. Ancient trees, some standing for decades, were torn from their roots. Solar panels mounted on rooftops were ripped away like paper, while electrical infrastructure collapsed entirely, leaving the district in complete darkness.
District officials reported that five victims were from Tehsil Dera, while three others died in Tehsil Paharpur. Emergency medical facilities worked through the night as 41 injured residents were rushed to District Headquarters Hospital and six others to Mufti Mehmood Hospital. Three patients remain in critical condition, fighting for their lives.
Medical teams managed to discharge 26 people after providing first aid, though 18 others required extended treatment. In a small mercy, the tehsils of Kulachi, Paroa, Daraban, and Darazinda escaped without casualties.
Individual Tragedies Tell Larger Story
Behind the statistics lie heartbreaking personal losses. A solar power installation on Grid Road became a death trap, killing three people and injuring two when it collapsed. In the village of Lar along Chashma Road, a mother and her son perished when their roof gave way.
The Zafarabad Colony witnessed perhaps the most tragic scene when Muhammad Nazir lost both his young children – two-year-old Fatima and three-year-old Muhammad – to a roof collapse.
In Matra Abad, within the Kirri Khaisore police station area, Sajal Bibi died when her home’s roof caved in. Her daughters, 14-year-old Sonia and 11-year-old Urooj, were injured but survived. Even places of worship weren’t spared – a wall of the Jamiat-ul-Madina mosque in Muryali collapsed, though fortunately no one was hurt. In Dinpur, Arsalan Baloch’s entire house was reduced to rubble.
Dir District Suffers Additional Loss
The remote Dir district, situated near Afghanistan’s border, reported three more child fatalities when a family home’s roof collapsed under the weight of accumulated rainwater and structural stress.
Official Response and Warnings
Following the widespread destruction, hospitals across the affected areas declared emergency status. DI Khan Commissioner Zafar-ul-Islam Khattak urged citizens to avoid non-essential travel during severe weather conditions and to take all necessary precautions to protect their lives and property.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) responded by issuing comprehensive flash flood and urban flooding alerts for numerous K-P districts. The warning covers upper mountainous regions including Chitral, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Kohistan, Mansehra, and Abbottabad, as well as plains districts such as Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi, and Mardan.
Particular concern has been raised for low-lying areas in Peshawar, Nowshera, and Mardan, which face elevated urban flooding risks. The authority also cautioned that continued heavy rainfall and windstorms could trigger dangerous lightning strikes.
Emergency services including district administrations, police forces, Rescue 1122 units, and all related institutions have been placed on high alert with instructions to implement immediate precautionary measures.
Mounting Human Cost
The PDMA’s latest comprehensive report paints a grim picture of the monsoon’s human toll across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The death count has reached 406 people, with an additional 247 individuals injured. Among the deceased, 305 are men, 55 are women, and 46 are children. The injured include 179 men, 38 women, and 30 children.
Property destruction has been equally severe, with 3,526 homes damaged across the province. Of these, 2,945 houses have suffered partial damage while 577 have been completely destroyed. Buner district has emerged as the worst affected, recording 337 deaths, while Swabi has also reported significant casualties.
The relentless nature of this year’s monsoon season has overwhelmed local infrastructure and emergency response capabilities, highlighting the region’s vulnerability to extreme weather events. As communities struggle to recover from each successive wave of destruction, authorities continue to grapple with providing adequate relief and protection for vulnerable populations.
The ongoing crisis underscores the urgent need for improved disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience in the face of increasingly severe weather patterns affecting the region.
