Punjab hit by biggest flood in its history, over 2 million at risk

Pakistan's eastern Punjab province is dealing with the biggest flood in its history, a senior official said Sunday, as water levels of rivers rise to all-time highs.

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Global warming has worsened monsoon rains this year in Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study. Downpours and cloudbursts have triggered flash floods and landslides across the mountainous north and northwest in recent months.

Residents in eastern Punjab have also experienced abnormal amounts of rain, as well as cross-border flooding after India released water from swollen rivers and its overflowing dams into Pakistan’s low-lying regions.

"This is the biggest flood in the history of the Punjab. The flood has affected 2 million people. It's the first time that the three rivers - Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravihave carried such high levels of water," the senior minister for the province, Maryam Aurangzeb, told a press conference on Sunday.

Local authorities were evacuating people and using educational institutions, police and security facilities as rescue camps, she said. Pakistani TV channels showed people clambering into rescue boats and sailing across fully submerged farmland to safety.