Heavy monsoon rains and floods have devastated large swathes of southern Pakistan, killing 49 people and affecting more than 2 million, officials said on Saturday. "The devastation is huge. Seventeen of the total 23 districts of the province are affected by rains and floods," said Sharjeel Memon, information minister, for southern province of Sindh. According to dpa, the unusual heavy torrential rains that started early this week caused breaches in water canals, destroying more than 25,000 hectares of standing crops of cotton, sugarcane and rice, and 247,848 homes, according to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). "Forty-nine people have so far been reported dead and 262 are injured due to the rains and floods but we fear that the numbers might swell since more rains are coming and floods are spreading to new areas," said NDMA spokesman Ahmed Kamal. "More than 2 million people are affected and 89,502 of them are staying at relief camps."
