The Floods Devastating Pakistan Are More Than a Natural Disaster
A decade after the devastating floods that devastated Pakistan in 2010, the country is reeling from an unimaginable scale of disaster. Monsoon rains and melting glaciers displaced at least 35 million people and killed more than a thousand. Pakistan is estimated to have lost at least $10 billion due to the massive destruction caused by the floods. In addition, the widespread destruction of agriculture and livestock raised concerns of severe food shortages in the coming months. The floods, which began in Balochistan province in July, received very little media coverage both at home and abroad. Instead, the public debate was dominated by the power struggle between ousted leader Imran Khan's party and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government, including crucial by-elections in Punjab province. In August, both sides began to file political motivated cases against their enemies. Shahbaz -Kurds, the Pakistani party (PTI), polarized the political point of view in the com