Reuters. Residents in southern Pakistan used sandbags to shield their homes from surging floodwaters that inundated a major highway on Wednesday (August 31), as global aid began arriving with food, medicine, and tents to help alleviate a major national disaster.
In Dadu, a district of the southern province of Sindh, residents gathered to form new dikes and reinforce existing ones using sandbags near a major highway that was deluged by water overnight.
"We have been working to make and reinforce this dike since early morning. We have vowed that we will not leave this town; we will save our town," said 20-year-old Dhamshad Ali.
Nearby, another man standing on a mound of sandbags ,appealed to all young men to come join the dike strengthening.
Wednesday's flooding was caused by water gushing down from nearby mountains between the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. Residents feared the situation could worsen as water from flooding in the north had yet to reach the southern province of Sindh and could do so in the coming days.
Abnormal heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered floods that have submerged a third of the country and killed at least 1,191 people, including 399 children. The United Nations has appealed for $160 million to help with what it calls an "unprecedented climate catastrophe."
