RAGING rivers of water and mud have swept through Afghanistan, destroying lives and homes and leaving countless displaced.
More than 300 people have died and many others are in hospital following flash floods which began yesterday and have left multiple provinces in ruins.
A state of emergency was declared after heavy rains on Friday saw murky rivers sweep through villages and agricultural land.
Horrifying footage showed torrents of water inundating roads as bodies were covered in white and black cloth.
Children cried and a group of people stood to watch as floodwaters roared past them, carrying debris from destroyed homes.
Aerial photographs showed hollowed-out homes, with only the top floor and the roof of each visible above murky water.
Items, presumably the treasured belongings of residents, sat above the floodwaters on the roofs.
Rescue teams rushed to save the injured and stranded, with Baghlan – where more than 300 people were killed and thousands of houses destroyed, according to the UN – one of the hardest provinces hit.
Up to 1,500 homes were damaged or destroyed and “more than 100 people died” in a single district, Baghlani Jadid, according to Mohammad Fahim Safie, who is leading IOM’s emergency response.
On Saturday, government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: “Hundreds of our fellow citizens have succumbed to these calamitous floods,” also telling AFP that dozens of people had been killed.
Significant damage has been reported in northeastern Badakhshan province, central Ghor province and western Herat, according to officials.
Ahmad Seyar Sajid, head of the natural management department in northern Takhar province, said: “In addition to human casualties, these floods have also caused huge financial losses to the people.”
He estimated 20 people had died in the flooding in northern Takhar.
Evacuation operations began on Saturday as the weather cleared, with more than 100 injured people transferred to hospital.
Afghanistan‘s air force said: “By announcing the state of emergency in (affected) areas, the Ministry of National Defence has started distributing food, medicine and first aid to the impacted people.”
Flooding has killed about 100 people across 10 of Afghanistan’s provinces since mid-April, according to authorities.
No region has been spared entirely from damage, with farmland – upon which 80 per cent of the country’s population survives – severely impacted.
The Taliban government claimed that 62 people had died in the most recent bout of flooding, as of Friday night.
It comes as intense rain continues to flood Brazil, the death toll from the historic floods in Rio Grande do Sul now at 126.
Storms and floods are battering Brazil’s southernmost state, displacing almost 34,000 people with another 141 unaccounted for.
Dramatic footage showed an iconic World Cup football stadium left completely flooded, submerged after last week’s devastating deluge.
And last month, “apocalyptic” Dubai floods were feared to have caused $1billion worth of damage in a single day.
Torrential downpours left an airport underwater, roads at a standstill, and homes and businesses flooded – as the cost of damage climbed rapidly.
Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, torrential rain caused flooding that saw cars swept away and roads transformed into raging rivers.
Several major highways in the kingdom were impacted by the flooding and locals were left with no choice but to leave their cars abandoned in the street as they ran from the rushing water.
