The severe floods came on the heels of an extreme drought in one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations.
Afghan men shovel mud from a house following flash floods after heavy rainfall at a village in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province on May 11, 2024.Severe flooding in Afghanistan over the weekend has killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of homes in rural villages.
The flash floods — prompted by heavy rainfall — came on the heels of an extreme drought in one of the nations that is most vulnerable to the climate emergency, yet has done “They’re not net emitters of carbon,” Timothy Anderson, head of the United Nations World Food Program in Afghanistan, “This is a subsistence agriculture community and society. So, they’re bearing the brunt of it, without having necessarily contributed to the issue very much.”21 districts in the northeastern provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Takhar on Friday and Saturday, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs . The extent of the flooding caught many villagers by surprise. VLOG: "The 1 to 2 hours of flooding and this unfortunate situation were not anticipated by the villagers, and leaving no room for the families to move to a safer place." Ummay Habiba fromIn Folo in Bulka district of Baghlan province, the rain began during Friday prayers, softly at first, and then quickly building in intensity.that it does not often rain so high up in the mountains and that villagers had to scramble as the situation “turned dire.” “People fled to higher ground, seeking refuge in mountains and hills,” he said. “Unfortunately, some individuals who were unable to leave their homes fell victim to the floodwaters.” that more than 300 were killed, and the U.N. Children’s Fund reported that at least 51 of them were children. The governmentThe survivors were left to bury the dead and tally their losses. All told, the disaster destroyed or damaged 8,975 homes, according to OCHA. In Baghlan province alone, the floods washed away at least six public schools, 10,200 acres of orchards, and 2,260 livestock and damaged 50 bridges and 30 hydroelectric dams.that he was visiting family in another province when he learned of the floods. Rushing home to the Nahrin district in Baghlan province, he found the road he usually took to his village erased, his wife and three of his children dead, and another child missing., “We have no food, no drinking water, no shelter, no blankets, nothing at all, floods have destroyed everything.”that losing livestock for many villagers meant losing all or part of their livelihoods. Further, the flooding disrupted the lives of people who were already struggling due to drought and destroyed measures they had taken to adapt, such as dams for rainwater and irrigation canals.The current disaster also follows rains and flooding in April that killed 70 and destroyed around 2,000 homes in southern and western provinces, according toThe U.N. lists Afghanistan as one of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis, and it also lost a significant amount of foreign aid when the Taliban took control in 2021. The aid has only decreased in the years since. While decades of war means that Afghanistan faces unique challenges, it’s not the only country that has been inundated with severe rain since the start of 2024. Extreme flooding this spring has“The climate crisis continues to rear its ugly head,” Teresa Anderson, the global climate justice lead at ActionAid International,in a statement. “With the latest incident, Afghanistan joins a long list of Global South countries grappling with floods this year. And this is as the world continues funding the climate crisis by expanding fossil fuels and industrial agriculture.” “How many more tragedies must happen for the world to prioritize climate action?” Anderson asked. “It’s time to back climate action with the necessary climate funding. Communities, like those in Afghanistan, need this money to build resilience to climate impacts and pay for the losses and damages already caused by the climate crisis.”For those who care about justice, liberation and even the very survival of our species, we must remember our power to take action. We won’t pretend it’s the only thing you can or should do, but one small step is to pitch in to support— as one of the last remaining truly independent, nonprofit, reader-funded news platforms, your gift will help keep the facts flowing freely.This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.There are still a handful of news sources that don't serve the interests of politicians or billionaires. There are still people like you, people who know that facts do matter, and that reality cannot be altered on a whim. But we must act together if we want the truth to prevail.
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