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The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said
Tuesday that 80 people also were injured when floods struck the
eastern province of Nuristan on Monday, causing an undetermined
number of buildings to collapse. The provincial capital city of
Parun was among the areas affected, authorities said.
Video footage from Parun showed scenes of utter devastation,
with piles of mud, rocks and rubble where buildings used to be.
Bulldozers helped clear mud and smashed concrete while local
residents used shovels to dig away at piles of earth.
“The flood came through here. We saw bodies being swept away in
the floodwaters with our own eyes," said Parun resident Zubair
Ahmad, who said homes and shops were destroyed. “The flooding
caused extensive damage and heavy losses for the local people.”
Forecasters predicted more extreme weather, with heavy rain,
thunderstorms, strong winds accompanied by sand and flash floods
in 10 of the country's 34 provinces, the Ministry of Transport
and Civil Aviation’s meteorology department said Monday evening.
The ministry warned residents to avoid riverbanks and other
areas at risk of flooding.
Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, with
snow and heavy rain that trigger flash floods, often killing
dozens, or even hundreds, of people at a time. In 2024, more
than 300 people died in springtime flash floods. Earlier this
year, at least 110 people were killed by widespread flooding and
landslides in several parts of the country.
Decades of conflict, along with poor infrastructure, a
struggling economy, deforestation and the intensifying effects
of climate change, have amplified the impact of such disasters,
particularly in remote areas where many homes are built of mud
and offer limited protection against sudden deluges or heavy
snowfall.
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