Entire villages are washed away, towns are cut in half, a hydroelectric station is overwhelmed and crushed, and roads and bridges along the way are destroyed. Like other disasters, even though the rains that brought this disaster have stopped for now, the disaster and its consequences have not. More than a week later, the suffering of the people who survived is growing day by day. The aid is desperately needed and the donors are well-intentioned, but the chaos caused by its arrival can be unsettling to watch. Crowds of men await aid trucks to reach ad hoc distribution points. Without police control, we saw hundreds of men crowding one of these trucks. Ignoring the delivery men, carrying thick pipes of pipes, they climbed aboard, grabbing anything and everything inside. A little further north, we entered the city of Bahrain, a major tourist destination on the banks of the Swat River. It is now split in two. a torrent of water overflows from the center of the city, with the main bridge washed away. The southern part of the city remains connected to the rest of the Swat Valley, so there are food supplies. Image: Men begin the journey of several kilometers for help People spawn on rickety planks over fast-flowing water Everything to the north is cut off. Across the waters, they have constructed makeshift rickety bridges—one no more than a board wide—and, more precariously, cable carts are rigged across the gully created by the floods with wire. People who live here wade through the fast-flowing waters, carrying supplies to homes untouched by the flood. All the homes and businesses on the old river front have either been washed away or have suffered catastrophic damage. For many who live here, life is difficult but manageable. Imran Khan, 30, whose family owns a hotel, says he found higher ground before the city center was hit and that he and many others were shocked by the ferocity of the water. Image: Imran Khan, 30 “It was so, so, so, so dangerous, we were so scared when it came and it was rolling, there was a huge amount of water coming,” he says. He adds that people are becoming anxious and angry because aid is taking too long to flow. “People are cut off because the bridges are washed away by the flood, but alhamdulillah, the local people are helping each other a little, but the relief is not enough for us, we need a lot of food and medicine and other such kinds of houses, shelters, etc., this will it was a bit good for us…” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 4:46 Explanation: The ‘worst’ floods in Pakistan 200,000 trapped in the cut off city Bahrain is important because it is now the gateway to the north of Swat, to the great city of Kalam and the villages beyond. About 200,000 people are trapped there and are completely cut off. As we turned we noticed men carrying very heavy sacks, hundreds of them all heading in one direction, most alone, some with their families. Climbing over rocks and traveling fast, determined but exhausted. Image: Damaged road, full of hotels The people explained to us that the men had come from the Kalam valley and beyond on foot. Scaling high mountain passes and dangerous paths, their journeys took six to nine hours one way as it is 36 kilometers (22 miles) to the valley. They simply have no choice but to make this grueling journey as they all have families at home, waiting for food. Pakistan Army helicopters are trying to drop aid into the valley, but with 200,000 people in need, what they can offer is a drop in the ocean. The journey north begins at a wooden plank bridge that groans under the weight of the men as they cross. At each end, flight attendants try to control the flow for fear the bridge will collapse. Image: Road washed away by floods “It’s a very difficult walk, you have to climb over hilltops and through mountains” We met Khalid, a red baseball cap shielding his face from the blistering sun, carrying lentils, flour, oil and other food supplies in a large rucksack. He was turning to his wife, children, mother and father. Image: Khalid, from Kalam, carries a backpack of supplies “We plan to travel another 36 kilometers to the Kalam Valley… it will take me at least six hours,” he explained, wiping the sweat from his face. “It’s a very difficult walk, you can see I’m already sweaty, I’m carrying this heavy load and the path is not good, it’s a very difficult walk because you have to climb over hilltops and through the mountains.” The destruction in Bahrain is significant, many buildings have been washed away, but even those that remain standing should probably be condemned. They stand precariously above the floodwaters, but most were submerged up to three stories and all will have had their foundations destroyed as the water swept away. On the rocks that had just been deposited and the huge boulders that fell in the city, the women do their washing and leave it to dry. A 100-year-old couple has never seen anything like this In a building, its front facade broken, Shamshaya is surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is 105 years old, frail but with inner strength. Image: Bahrain resident Shamshaya, 105 She has seen a lot in her long life in the Swat Valley, but she says life has changed here – and not necessarily for the better. “The weather has changed, it was very good in the past, the climate was good and the people were happy, even though it was a simple life, now we have more infrastructure, but everything has changed for us, the weather has changed everything,” he said. she says, holding her blue prayer beads. Shamshaya’s husband, centenarian Chari Gul, adds: “It’s a disaster, the flood destroyed everything. Image: Shamshaya’s husband Chari Gul “I’m 115 to 120 years old, but I’ve never seen floods like this in my entire life. “They are cutting down the forests, so the weather is changing – and now we have more rain and the weather is getting warmer.” The real priority here now is to reroute the river and build bridges and repair the roads heading north, as almost everything beyond this town has been destroyed. Image: Excavators try to redirect the flow of the river Diggers pick up boulders and drop them into the water, trying to create obstacles to the flow. Time is really of the essence if the people in the north are to be relieved. Neither faith nor determination can be questioned in Pakistan, but this is overwhelming and they desperately need help.
