ISLAMABAD: Floods triggered by Pakistan’s 2025 monsoon season affected more than nine million people and destroyed 849,000 hectares of crops, according to a fresh assessment released Friday by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. The report, published in December, comes months after floodwaters receded in late September, offering the first comprehensive damage estimate of one of the country’s worst climate disasters in recent years.
The 2025 monsoon officially began on June 26 and brought continuous heavy rainfall, flash floods, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) across multiple regions. While the flooding ended in September, its humanitarian and economic consequences continued to deepen into late 2025, prompting repeated warnings from international agencies.
Timeline of Key Events in the 2025 Floods
The monsoon season formally began late June, bringing unusually heavy rainfall across much of Pakistan. Even before the official onset, pre-monsoon downpours in mid-June had already triggered flash floods in northern regions such as the Swat River valley, causing the first fatalities of the season.
On August 15, a powerful cloudburst hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner district, unleashing destructive landslides and flash floods and forcing the provincial government to declare an emergency in nine districts. Just days later, on August 19, relentless rainfall led to severe urban flooding in Sindh, swamping large parts of Karachi, Hyderabad, and surrounding towns.
The situation worsened on August 22, when a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district sent torrents of water through mountain communities, cutting off villages and damaging vital road networks.
Between late August and early September, Punjab experienced record-breaking river floods. Consecutive rain spells, intensified by upstream water releases from India, pushed the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers to dangerous levels, submerging thousands of villages. The crisis reached its peak on September 6–7, when river flows surged to their highest point in decades, triggering mass evacuations across the province.
Rainfall began to ease by mid-September, allowing floodwaters to gradually recede nationwide. However, comprehensive damage assessments continued for months as authorities and aid agencies surveyed the scale of destruction.
FAO and UNOCHA Damage Assessments
FAO’s December report warns that consecutive years of severe flooding have fundamentally reshaped Pakistan’s agricultural landscape, citing soil erosion, salinisation, crop losses, and widespread destruction of irrigation channels and rural infrastructure.
Earlier, in September, UNOCHA reported that nearly seven million people had been displaced during the monsoon season, with Punjab worst affected, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Destruction Across Provinces
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
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504 deaths recorded
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1.57 million people affected
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Hardest hit by cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides
Punjab
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5.1 million people affected
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Over one million acres of farmland submerged
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Flooding worsened by high river flows and cross-border water releases
Sindh
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Severe urban flooding in Karachi and Hyderabad
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Prolonged standing water caused major disruption to mobility, health services, and power supply
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB)
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41 deaths
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Multiple GLOF events linked to accelerated glacier melt
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Remote valleys cut off due to damaged link roads
Why Pakistan Remains Highly Vulnerable
Scientists and disaster agencies point to a combination of structural weaknesses and accelerating climate impacts:
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Climate Change: Heavier monsoon systems and rapid glacier melt are increasing both riverine and glacial lake floods.
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Weak Infrastructure: Encroachment into floodplains and inadequate drainage worsen urban inundation.
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Deforestation: Loss of tree cover reduces natural water absorption.
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Early Warning Gaps: Alerts often fail to reach remote communities in time for evacuation.
A Growing Humanitarian and Recovery Challenge
Although the floods ended in September, assessments through October and November documented escalating humanitarian needs. Millions remain displaced, thousands of homes were destroyed, and vast tracts of farmland remain unusable.
Authorities and international agencies warn that long-term resilience — including improved river management, stronger embankments, climate-adaptive agriculture, and better urban planning — is essential to prevent repeat disasters.
As of October 2025, government data shows that monsoon-related rains and flash floods since June 26 resulted in over 1,000 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries, underscoring yet another devastating year for Pakistan’s climate-stressed population.
