Pakistan looks ‘like a sea’ after devastating floods, says PM Sharif

Many parts of the country appear “like a sea,” Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, after visiting flood-hit areas that cover almost a third of the South Asian nation, with the death toll reaching 1,343.

“You wouldn't believe the scale of destruction there,” Sharif told reporters after a visit to the southern province of Sindh. "It is water everywhere as far as you could see. It is just like a sea."

Another 18 people, including eight children, died over the past 24 hours, according to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, taking the overall death toll in floods to 1,343.

The embattled prime minister said receding waters pose a new challenge in the form of water-borne infectious diseases.

The government, which has boosted cash handouts for flood victims to 70 billion Pakistani rupees (about $313.90 million), will buy 200,000 tents to house the displaced, he said, saying the government needs "trillions of rupees" to deal with the calamity.

The United Nations has also called for $160 million in aid to help the flood victims.

The floods were brought by record monsoon rains and glacier melt in Pakistan’s northern mountains.

Raging floods and water spillover from Pakistan's largest freshwater lake threaten several districts of Sindh, the hardest-hit province with a population of over five million. 

The government has already engineered two intentional breaches of Lake Manchar’s retaining wall in an effort to ease pressure on the structure.

Flood-hit Pakistan breaches largest freshwater lake to save more densely populated areas from overflow

Authorities in flood-hit Pakistan breach the country

Due to a particularly intense monsoon season, about one-third of Pakistan’s landmass has been submerged. As many as 33 million of a population of 220 million have been affected by a natural disaster that has left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The government says almost 1.2 million homes have been destroyed and property damage is expected to reach $10 billion. National disaster officials said at least 18 people, including eight children, were among the dead in the past 24 hours.

With more rain expected in the coming month, circumstances could worsen, a top official of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned.

The World Health Organization has said more than 6.4 million people need humanitarian support in the flooded areas.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on September 1 that the floods were “a climate disaster of biblical proportions.”

“Pakistanis at this point in time, are paying in their lives and in their livelihoods for a climate disaster that is not of their making.”

Pakistan is also suffering from more severe heat waves, which may have played a role in the flooding.

The South Asian country has received nearly 190% more rain than the 30-year average in July and August, totaling 391 millimeters (15.4 inches), with Sindh getting 466% more rain than the average.

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