Two days before his scheduled wedding, Noor Muhammad from Pakistan had a long phone conversation with his mother. This was just hours before his mother and 23 other family members perished in the heavy rains and flooding that hit Pakistan.
“I can’t describe how happy my mother sounded when we talked that day,” said Noor, standing near the 36-room house where his devastated family had lived.
Noor’s neighborhood, Qadir Nagar, is one of the areas most affected by the heavy rains in Pakistan. Of the approximately 400 people who died in various parts of Pakistan due to flooding, more than 200 died in this mountainous region.
Noor works as a laborer in Malaysia. He arrived in Pakistan on August 15 to get married two days later. His family had been closely overseeing all the wedding arrangements. However, instead of attending his wedding celebration, Noor was forced to attend 24 funerals. He said the deceased included his mother, sister, aunt, and uncle. His father and another uncle survived as they were on their way to pick up Noor from the airport when the flooding occurred.
Noor, 25, said that when he arrived home that day, there was no house left; it had been destroyed. He said the flood waters had swept away the house, his mother, uncle, aunt, grandfather, great-uncle, and their children. The other casualties included Noor’s uncles’ families and people who had come to the city to attend Noor’s wedding. The flooding did not harm the girl Noor was to marry, as her home was far from the affected area.
Residents of the most heavily rained areas said they had never experienced such a storm in their lives. They said that before the flooding, the area was very lively, but today it has been destroyed.
The number of people missing in the flood disaster is also quite high. Bodies of the deceased are still being discovered. While 400 people died in the recent rains, the total death toll since the monsoon rains began in June has reached 776. Authorities say there will be two more episodes of heavy rain until September 10.
