Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Floodwaters swept away a major hotel in the Kalam valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as seen in a video released on Friday. Rains continued to cause damage in the Swat district, which is the tip of the proverbial iceberg that is the flood situation in Pakistan, which has killed nearly a thousand people.
In Kalam, the hotel was on the bank of the Swat River. It was evacuated on time and no one was hurt. After the event, other hotels near the river were also cleared out.
A warning for tourists has been sent out by the National Highway Authority (NHA) for the towns of Bahrain and Kalam in Swat. The alert said that heavy rain had made the district look like it was about to flood.
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It said that the rain had done a lot of damage to the N-95 and N-90 highways between Bahrain and Kalam.
A representative for the NHA said that flooding has damaged the Bahrain Bridge and the road leading up to it. The Bahrain-Kalam road and the tracks around it have also been damaged, the representative said.
“Tourists and people who live in Swat should not go on trips that aren’t necessary,” the spokesperson said.
Emergency declared
The flooding in Swat has caused so much damage that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has declared a state of emergency there.
A notice from the KP relief department said that the state of emergency will last until August 30 to help with relief efforts in flood-hit areas of Swat.
The Chief Minister of KP, Mahmood Khan, has told the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to speed up relief efforts in the area and get groceries, cooked food, and other items to the people who need them as soon as possible.
The district administration says that communication bridges in Swat have also been broken in Matta, Sukhra, and Lalko.
Several hotels and restaurants on the Mingora Bypass have been flooded, and the Swat Mingora Bypass Road has been shut down because of it.
The deputy commissioner said that both public and private schools in Nowshera have been closed for two days because of flooding.
KP sends out a flood warning
In a flood advisory released on Friday, KP’s Provincial Emergency Operations Centre said that water flows in the River Swat at Khawazakhela point and its tributaries/nullahs had reached high to very high flood levels of 227,899 cusecs, which “may lead to a dangerous situation for communities living nearby.”
The deputy commissioners of Swat, Lower Dir, Malakand, Mohmand, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, and Peshawar have been told to “immediately identify vulnerable points and communities at risk to come up with mitigation and safety measures.”
“Maintain a higher level of alert and watch how the situation changes to cut down on reaction and response times,” the center said, calling on people who live near rivers to be aware of the higher water flows.
“Make announcements so that people who are at risk can get out of low-lying or flood-prone areas on time, according to evacuation plans,” it said.
The PDMA also told the authorities to move cattle out of areas that could flood and stop vehicles from going there.
Damage in Pakistan
Since June, flash floods caused by unusual rains have caused a lot of damage across Pakistan.
The number of people who have died because of recent rains and floods has reached 937, and 1,343 people have been hurt.
In KP, Sindh, Balochistan, and Punjab, 34 more people have died and 50 more have been hurt in the last 24 hours.
After another 85,897 animals died in 24 hours, the total number of animals killed by the rains reached 793,995.
Also, another 175,069 houses have been damaged in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of damaged houses to 670,328.
