Two days before his wedding, Noor Muhammad had a long phone call with his mother, just hours before devastating floods in Pakistan killed her along with 23 family members and relatives.
“I cannot explain how happy she was,” he said, standing by the rubble of his family’s large 36-room house, perched on the bank of a flood channel in Qadir Nagar village.
The village in mountainous Buner district has been the worst hit by recent heavy rain, accounting for more than 200 of nearly 400 deaths in the northwest since Aug. 15. Buner is a three-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital Islamabad.
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“Everything was finished,” sobbed Muhammad, 25, as mourners sat at his damaged house to offer condolences, saying there was nothing left except rubble and heavy rocks, swept down from the mountains along with mud and raging floodwaters, smashing houses, markets and buildings.
“The flood came, a huge flood came, it swept away everything – home, mother, sister, brother, my uncle, my grandfather and children.”
Muhammad, who works as a labourer in Malaysia, had arrived at Islamabad airport on Aug. 15 to join wedding preparations set for two days later. Instead, he attended 24 funerals.
The dead included his mother, a brother and a sister. His father and another brother survived because they had gone to pick him up at the airport. The rest of the fatalities were among his uncles’ families who shared the house built by his grandfather, and relatives who had come for the wedding. His fiance survived as her home was away from the worst damage.
A view of the damaged family house of Noor Muhammad, 25, who lost 24 family members and relatives, which was hit by devastating floods in the mountainous Qadir Nagar village of Buner district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, August 21, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS
Devastating flash floods
Flash floods triggered by the worst of this year’s monsoon and cloudbursts, which started in the mountainous northwest, have spread to other parts of the country of 240 million, bringing widespread destruction.
Authorities said the longer spell of heavy rain and rare cloudbursts were rooted in climate change, warning that such extreme weather is likely to intensify in the coming years.
“We and our elders have never seen a storm like this in our lives,” said Muhammad Zeb, 28, a resident of Buner. “It was complete chaos, a massive disaster. You can see for yourself – this was a beautiful place with homes. But now the flood and storm have swept everything away.”
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An unknown number of people remain missing, with more bodies still being recovered, officials said.
The overall death toll across the country since the monsoon rains began in late June stood at 776, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, which said more than 25,000 people had been rescued in the northwest.
The army and air force have joined rescue and relief efforts. Officials have warned of more storms ahead, with two additional monsoon spells expected until Sept. 10.
Buner received more than 150 mm (5.9 inches) of rain within an hour during a destructive cloudburst. Such rare phenomena involve over 100 mm (3.9 inches) of rain falling in a single hour in a small area.
Only four of the 28 people in Muhammad’s house survived. “What else can we say? It’s God’s will,” he said.
