Hundreds drown in catastrophic floods as kids are retrieved from mud in Afghanistan.
Near them, a helper descends their 2-year-old brother, Arian, to the rooftop, a cloth fastened around his waist to retrieve him from the raging floodwaters below.
"Hand it over, let's remove the rope from his physique," the rescuer says in the video. "Bring his mother to embrace him and keep him warm."
In the past couple of days, at least 300 people have lost their lives in flooding across 18 districts in at least three provinces in northern Afghanistan, as per the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Approximately 200 were hurt.
Videos display violent torrents of soil washing away mud abodes - and people, their limbs flailing, in the rapid-paced brown tide, with would-be rescuers watching from higher ground, out of reach.
The three rescued children, ages 3, 5 and 6, were part of eight relatives who were residing with their parents in Folo, in Bulka district of Baghlan, when the flooding occurred.
Their uncle Barakatullah, Haji Wakil Besmillah's son and the local school headmaster, relayed to CNN that something ominous seemed to be developing around that time when extreme wind spread through the district and neighboring areas, concealing everything in darkness.
"Sight was so limited that we couldn't even perceive each other," he said.
Then the rain commenced drizzling during Friday prayers - an unusual event for locals in a high mountain region inhabiting approximately 10,000 people, he further mentioned.
As the rain became heavier, suddenly the situation worsened.
"People sought asylum on higher ground, looking for shelter on mountains and hills. Regrettably, some individuals who couldn't escape their residences fell prey to the floodwaters," he stated.
Pictures from the sky depict belongings loaded in plastic bags on rooftops, among them the silhouettes of women who are required to cover their entire body, even during calamities.
"Women who survived the rescue are compelled to wear mud-soaked garments, even infants as young as 2 to 3 months old are swathed in comparably soiled attire," Barakatullah added.
In Folo, more than 100 people are supposed to have perished, he said - mostly women and children.
Some funerals occurred over the weekend, but many more are hypothesized to be buried beneath mud.
From drought and famine to flooding
The downpour washed away animals and farmland in an area already suffering from food shortages, as per Timothy Anderson, the WFP's head in Afghanistan.
He said the districts struck by flooding had already been tagged vulnerable to hunger following a trying summer with sweltering heat causing a drought.
"It was already pretty grim. And now it's disastrous," he informed CNN.
Most years, locals anticipate witnessing flash floods, he said. However, this year, it's been more severe.
The loss of dwelling places and their land is devastating for the victims, who were already among the country's poorest individuals, Anderson remarked.
"When people lose even a tiny fraction of livestock, that's their livelihood," he said.
Access to the worst-affected regions through roads has been barred by floodwaters, causing the WFP to utilize donkeys to transport supplies.
On the first day, the WFP distributed high energy biscuits and food for children. They're also assisting local bakeries to provide free bread. In the days that followed, teams began sending supplies to nourish families for a month - but what happens next is uncertain.
Anderson said 17 joint evaluation squads are being mobilized to the area, with additional UN partners. He stated that it'll take four or five days for the squads to accurately evaluate the effect of the flooding on individuals, around their housing and infrastructure.
'Striking' the brunt of the climate crisis
This most recent natural calamity followed drought in Afghanistan and is being interpreted as a testament to the climate problem that impacts those who have contributed the least to rising global temperatures.
"They're not net emitters of carbon," Anderson of the WFP added. "This is a subsistence farming society. Hence, they're bearing the brunt, but not having contributed much to the matter."
During the recent dry months, efforts were made to assist the community in storing rainwater in dams and irrigation canals to save crops. Now, those endeavors have been washed away, posing an added challenge.
"The need is colossal, not just in Afghanistan. The world is witnessing the impacts of more ambitious, more severe events, whether that's drought or rainstorms," Anderson noted.
Richard Bennett, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan mentioned that the recent floods are "a stark reminder of Afghanistan's vulnerability to the climate emergency."
And in a statement on Sunday, Teresa Anderson, the Global Climate Justice Lead at ActionAid International stated: "The climate crisis persists in intensifying."
"With the latest incident, Afghanistan now joins a long list of Global South countries afflicted with floods this year," she said.
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In the face of these challenges, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has expressed concern over the impact of the flooding on food shortages in Asia, as the region is known for its vulnerability to climate change.
Despite the catastrophic floods in Afghanistan, Asia as a whole continues to grapple with the risk of food shortages, exacerbated by extreme weather events and climate change.
Source: edition.cnn.com
