Pakistan Issues Nationwide Flood Alert and Places Provinces on High Alert

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority issued a nationwide alert on Sunday warning of thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, urban flooding, and elevated glacial lake outburst flood risks over the next 12 to 24 hours. The alert identified Hunza and Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as the most vulnerable areas.

It also warned of flooding in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and adjoining areas.

Provincial and district administrations were placed on high alert and directed to keep drainage systems clear. Al Jazeera reported that the warning came as Pakistan braces for a likely fourth consecutive year of punishing monsoon expected to arrive later in June 2026. Last year's monsoon rains killed more than 1,000 people, including 275 children, and displaced three million people.

Pakistan is home to some 13,000 glaciers. According to the United Nations Development Programme, melting glaciers have formed more than 3,000 glacial lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which 33 have been assessed as vulnerable to hazardous outbursts. More than 7.1 million people live around those lakes.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, temperatures this year reached a record 48.5 degrees Celsius, breaking a previous high set in 1971. The 2022 floods killed nearly 1,700 people, displaced more than 30 million, caused $14.8 billion in property damage, and wiped out $15.2 billion from Pakistan's GDP.

Pakistan hosted a donor conference in Geneva in January 2023 where about $11 billion was pledged for flood recovery.