Pakistan floods and cloudbursts visualised in maps and satellite images

More than 100 radical stay missing successful bluish Pakistan aft flash floods person killed astatine slightest 360 crossed the state and Pakistan-administered Kashmir since Friday.

Most of the victims person been successful the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa state successful the northwest, wherever full villages person been swept distant arsenic swollen rivers, mudslides and collapsing homes near families buried beneath debris. Authorities person warned of much deluges and imaginable landslides and urged section administrations to stay connected alert.

Floods successful Buner termination much than 200 people

In Buner, a territory successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa astir 100km (62 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, astatine slightest 207 radical person been killed implicit 2 days arsenic floods and landslides swept done villages and destroyed homes.

Members of the Urban Search and Rescue squad hunt for bodies successful the debris of damaged houses aft a tempest caused dense rains and flooding successful Bayshonai Kalay, Buner district, connected August 17, 2025 [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]

Buner is predominantly hilly with steep slopes that provender into constrictive valleys. The district’s loose, erosion-prone ungraded coupled with deforestation makes it susceptible to landslides and flash floods.

Satellite images of Buner amusement mountains and surrounding villages, including the municipality of Pir Baba, engulfed successful mud and debris aft the floods.

What is simply a cloudburst?

Officials said Buner was deed by a cloudburst, a uncommon improvement successful which much than 100mm (4 inches) of rainfall falls wrong an hr successful a tiny area. In Buner, determination was much than 150mm (6 inches) of rainfall wrong an hr connected Friday morning.

Cloudbursts typically hap successful mountainous regions during the monsoon play erstwhile upwind conditions tin nutrient sudden, localised downpours starring to landslides.

Cloudbursts thin to hap implicit a tiny country of 20 to 30sq km (7.7 to 11.6sq miles) and are often accompanied by thunder, lightning and sometimes hail.

(Al Jazeera)

Aziz Ahmed, a schoolteacher successful Buner, said the thunder accompanying caller torrential rains was truthful large helium thought the “end of the satellite had come”.

Houses are partially submerged successful sludge on a riverbed successful the aftermath of flash floods successful the Buner territory connected August 17, 2025 [Abdul Majeed/AFP]

Search efforts focused connected areas wherever homes were flattened by torrents of h2o that swept down from the mountains, carrying monolithic boulders that smashed into houses similar explosions.

“You tin accidental that those who survived person gone mad,” said Ahmed, pointing to a location wherever conscionable 1 household subordinate inactive lived.

Pakistan’s destructive monsoon season

In Pakistan, the monsoon play typically runs from July to September with highest rainfall usually occurring successful August.

Since precocious June, torrential monsoon rains person battered Pakistan, triggering landslides and flash floods that person killed much than 650 radical and injured astir 1,000, according to officials.

Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, the president of the National Disaster Management Authority, said astatine a quality league successful Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting upwind patterns due to the fact that of clime change.

“The strength of this year’s monsoon is astir 50 to 60 percent much than past year,” Haider said.

The worst-hit state is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, wherever 425 deaths person been recorded, followed by 164 successful Punjab.

More than fractional of the fatalities were caused by flash floods portion astir a 3rd resulted from location collapses.

Housing harm has besides been severe: 941 successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 719 successful Azad Jammu and Kashmir were reported destroyed oregon damaged, highlighting the standard of demolition to structure and infrastructure. In total, 2,707 homes person been damaged.

Early informing system

Angry residents successful Buner accused officials of failing to pass them to evacuate. There was nary informing broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a accepted method successful distant areas.

The authorities said that portion an aboriginal informing strategy was successful place, the abrupt downpour successful Buner was truthful aggravated that the deluge struck earlier residents could beryllium alerted.

Pakistan prone to earthy disasters

Pakistan is among the world’s astir climate-vulnerable countries and grapples with utmost upwind that is becoming much predominant and much intense.

Although it produces little than 1 percent of planetary greenhouse state emissions, the state faces recurring heatwaves, dense rains, glacial water outburst floods and abrupt cloudbursts that tin devastate communities wrong hours.

Flash floods and landslides are a regular diagnostic of the monsoon season, particularly successful the rugged northwest, wherever villages beryllium connected steep slopes and riverbanks.

In 2022, Pakistan endured its worst monsoon play connected record, which killed much than 1,700 radical and caused an estimated $40bn successful damage. Twelve years earlier, akin floods killed much than 1,700 and affected astatine slightest 20 cardinal people, according to authoritative data.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies