Flood Affected Areas of Pakistan

Types of floods in Pakistan

There are many types of flood that occur in the country almost every year.
Monsoon floods: are common in Pakistan. Monsoon rain can fill river basins with much
water coupled with melting snows. Torrential rains from decaying monsoon low pressure
area can also produce river flooding.
Flash floods: also occur in Pakistan; they are common in the northern areas of the
country and cause great loss of life there.
Floods due to the breaches of river embankments and canal breeches are a frequent
occurrence in all the districts of Pakistan.
Urban floods: occur in the major cities of Pakistan, they are also common in the
monsoon season.
Coastal floods: occur when a tropical storm makes landfall in the coastal areas of the
country. The south-eastern Sindh and the Makran coast bear the brunt of such floods.

Latest Floods in Pakistan

Historical floods in Pakistan

Year

Fatalities

People affected

2005

59

1,931

2007

918

2 million+

2010

1,781+

20 million

2011

434

8.9 million

In
2007, K
yber-

Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and coastal Balochistan were badly affected due to monsoon
rainfall. Sindh and coastal Balochistan were affected by Cyclone Yemyin in June and then
torrential rains in July and August, while Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was affected by melting
glaciers and heavy rainfall in July and August. At least 130 people died and 2,000 were
displaced in Khyber-Pakhtunkwain in July and 22 people died in August, while 815
people died in Balochistan and Sindh due to flash floods.
In 2010, almost all of Pakistan was affected when massive flooding caused by record
breaking rains hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The number of individuals affected

by the flooding exceeds the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At least
2,000 people died in this flood and almost 20 million people were affected by it.

Figure 1: Flood Affected People

In September
2011, at least 361
people were killed; some 5.3 million people and 1.2 million homes affected as well 1.7
million acres of arable land inundated when massive floods swept across the province
of Sindh as a result of monsoon rains.
The flood was originated mostly because of rainfall and observed the highest ever
recorded monsoon rain in Sindh started from Aug 11, 2011 to Sept 14, 2011. So the
inundated area increased respectively with rainfall and ceased on Sept 15, 2011
effectively with the stop of rainfall. The floods caused considerable damage; an estimated
434 civilians were killed, with 5.3 million people and 1,524,773 homes affected.
The following are the heavy rainfalls recorded in Sindh province in the months of August and
September 2011 based on data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
City
Mithi
Mirpur
Khas
Nawabshah
Badin
Chhor
Dadu
Padidan
Hyderabad
Karachi

August
Rainfall
(mm)
530*

21.0

September
Rainfall
(mm)
760*

263.1*

10.3

603*

23.7

866.1*

34.1

275.2*
331.2*
276
134.1
251.2
162.2
61.2

10.8
13.0
10.9
5.2
9.8
6.3
2.4

353.2*
284.1
268
348.1
172
244.2
212.2

13.9
11.1
10.6
13.7
6.8
9.6
8.3

628.4*
615.3*
544*
482.2*
423.2*
406.4
273.3

24.7
24.2
21.4
18.9
16.6
16.0
10.7

Rainfall
(in)

30.0

Total
Rainfall
(mm)
1290*

Total
Rainfall
(in)
51.0

Rainfall
(in)

 In September 2012, more than 100 people died, and thousands of homes destroyed, with
thousands of acres of arable land affected when intense rainfall battered Khyber
Pukhtunkhwa, Southern Punjab and Upper Sindh.
City
Sukkur
Shorkot
Rahim Yar Khan
Larkana
Khanpur
Jacobabad
Chhor
Rahim Yar Khan

Rainfall (mm)
206
152*
236
239
291*
481*
137
236

Rainfall (in)
8.11
5.9*
9.29
9.4
11.45*
18.94*
5.3
9.29

Province
Sindh
Punjab
Punjab
Sindh
Punjab
Sindh
Sindh
Punjab

In August 2013, more than 80 people died.

In September 2014 Due to massive rain in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Azad Jammu

and Kashmir and in Punjab. Constituted flood situation in River Chenab and River
Jhelum.