BECKY FALCON A PROFESSIONAL FREELANCE JOURNALIST Aug 2, 2021

At least 80 people have died as a result of heavy flooding triggered by rains in Eastern Afghanistan, and over a hundred others are missing, according to The New York Times.

The floods caught most of the residents off guard because they occurred at night while most were asleep. According to the news outlet, authorities estimated that around 200 homes were destroyed by the catastrophe that happened in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. 

By Thursday night, the search teams had recovered around 80 bodies. Local authorities estimated that the eventual death toll might surpass 200 as many people are still missing, The New York Times reported.

“It is wiped out, nothing remains after floods,” said Abdul Naser, a resident of the district who visited the village on Thursday. “No aid has arrived yet, and there are no measures for caskets, coffins, and funerals.

The area is controlled by the Taliban, something that has affected rescue efforts. However, the Taliban have promised to allow humanitarian agencies safe access to the site, Reuters reported. 

Afghanistan frequently suffers from natural disasters that cause many human losses, such as floods owing to its geographical location coupled with years of environmental degradation, according to relief web, a global humanitarian information website.

Flash floods that affected a dozen provinces in Afghanistan killed at least 190 people in September last year and destroyed more than 1,000 houses, the Times Of India reported at the time.