loods in recent years, especially since 2022, have caused losses measured in tens of billions of dollars, destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and wiped out large tracts of farmland and livestock.

These floods have also severely damaged transport, water, education and health infrastructure. Some expert assessments have put direct damage in the range of $15 billion besides $15 billion economic losses from the 2022 event alone. Other studies have indicated higher consolidated estimates (up to ~$0–40 billion when indirect effects and long-run losses are included). The pattern of floods since 2022 has added fresh localised losses each year, with the agricultural sector and rural housing bearing the heaviest burden.

Affected population

The 2022 floods affected about 33 million people and displaced roughly 8 million — making it one of the largest climate-related humanitarian disasters in recent memory. Millions required urgent humanitarian assistance.

The 2022 assessments reported 897,014 houses destroyed and another 1,391,467 damaged. Floods in 2023–2024 added tens of thousands more damaged or destroyed dwellings in various provinces.

Infrastructure

Road and bridge networks suffered at scale — the 2022 event documented 13,115 km of roads and 439 bridges affected or destroyed. Schools, health facilities and water systems were also heavily damaged. The UNICEF and other agencies reported 30,000 schools and 2,000 health facilities damaged or destroyed in the 2022 event alone.

Agriculture and livestock

The agricultural losses were “phenomenal.” There were more than 1.16 million livestock deaths during 2022, crops over thousands of acres were submerged or lost, and critical cash crops (cotton, rice, sugarcane, maize) affected across provinces. Heavy rains in 2024-2025 continued to erode cropped area and intensify food security pressure.

Financial accounting

Different institutions use different methods: (a) damage — value of destroyed physical assets; (b) economic losses — production/ income lost during/ after the event; and (c) reconstruction needs — investment required to restore and “build back........

© The News on Sunday