‘Nobody is here to help’: Massive floods in Pakistan show the cost of global indifference | World News

It is easy to see the scale of the loss in Pakistan.

Even as we traveled by boat through the hard-hit Dadu district in Sindh province, I struggled to understand what lay beneath the water. But soon we will hear terrible stories of a community engulfed in loss.

Crops, houses, livelihoods – all submerged in water.

The Kacha area is normally dry. In some places, it’s 20 feet deep.

I could only make out a small slide of the school roof protruding above the surface. Next to it – a mosque completely submerged in water.

In Sindh alone, 16,000 schools were damaged or destroyed. Life will come to a standstill for months to come. And it is expected to get worse.

In the distance, we saw a group of young men rushing to higher ground – huddled together on a mound of ruined mud. They beckoned us to the shore – behind the crumbling wall were Jan Mohammad’s men.

Most have lost their homes and are concentrated on the few remaining plots of land here. There are hope-packed suitcases. They were stranded for three weeks with no clean water and very little food.

Lal Khatoon, who appeared as the village patriarch – a passionate and powerful presence in a group of tired-looking people, told me: “No one is here to help.

“Thank goodness my kids got here. But now they have a fever and have stomach problems.”

She wanted to show me her house, but couldn’t see it – completely underwater now.

There are about 100 people in this village and many children are sick. Waterborne diseases.

A mother showed me her son crying violently.

His tiny body is covered with white spots and she says he got them due to flood water.

Lal Khatoon’s three-month-old grandson is also struggling – he has a high fever.

Crowded conditions – a goat picks up from the crumbs in a small child’s food bowl.

I saw a potion, but all around it were flies and children who looked painfully thin.

There’s no sign of relief trucks here, no downed planes. And the villagers worry that, if they leave, there won’t be any other food or shelter.

But it’s a risk to stay. More floodwaters from the north are expected in the coming days. The few remaining houses may not exist.

During the 2010 floods, help reached this community. Not this time.

Pakistan is considered a climate hotspot. Yes, it is a victim of its geography. And yes, political and economic turmoil has left it unprepared for this crisis.

But it also has a remarkably small carbon footprint. It has emerged as a victim of a man-made disaster and global indifference.

Who bills for disasters like this, which people are most vulnerable to and, more importantly, who pays to prevent them, should be at the center of an urgent and intense debate. . However, it still isn’t.