At least 28 people have lost their lives and 29 others have been injured in rain related incidents across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since July 19, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Sunday.
The PDMA said that the deaths were due to the collapse of roofs and walls, and people being swept away by flash floods resulting from torrential rains.
Ten men, 15 children and three women have died and 13 men, nine women and seven children are injured.
The authority also reported damage to 47 houses, 37 of which suffered partial damage and 10 were destroyed.
The impacted districts are Peshawar, Nowshera, Khyber, Mardan, Buner, Bajaur, Shangla, Swabi, Upper and Lower Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Upper Kohistan, Tank, Tor Ghar, Kurram, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan.
The PDMA is coordinating relief efforts with Rescue 1122, district administrations and other relevant departments, and relief measures are being taken to the affected communities.
The authority has urged district administrations to move swiftly to conduct relief operations and to disburse relief to affected families in a timely manner.
PDMA Director General also urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel, stay away from vulnerable tourist destinations, and follow official weather alerts and advisories.
The PDMA Emergency Operations Centre is operational and people have been warned to call 1700 in case of an emergency or to request weather updates.
Floods will now be monitored by drones in Punjab
The Punjab government has introduced the Drone based Flood Monitoring System for the first time in the province for strengthening early flood warnings and surveillance of water bodies in the province.
The project has been launched on the instructions of the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to look after big barrages, rivers and headworks by using advanced drone technology, officials said. The system will allow for continuous monitoring of water levels, river flows and flood potential.
Safe City drones are being deployed to keep an eye on the state of the water at important rivers, barrages and headworks, so that authorities can warn relevant departments at early notice of an increase in floodwaters, officials said.
In Pakpattan, the water flow on Ravi and Sutlej rivers is in normal range and water levels and erosion along the water courses have been assessed by drone surveillance.
Additionally, drone monitoring was conducted at Talibwala Bridge, Chenab River in Sargodha, Head Sidhnai Barrage, Khanewal, Kutab Shahana, Sahiwal, Head Marala, Sialkot and Rasul Barrage, Mandi Bahauddin.
Low level flood was reported in Sahiwal while discharge of water at Head Marala Sialkot was measured at 174,000 cusecs.
The new drone monitoring system would enable the government to closely monitor weather conditions during floods, ensure better disaster preparedness and enable a prompt response in case of emergencies, the government said.
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