Pakistan: World Bank estimates floods caused $40B in damages

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s government says the World Bank estimates that this summer’s record-breaking floods have caused $40 billion in damages in this impoverished country. The figure is $10 billion more than the government’s earlier estimate. Pakistan was already facing a serious financial crisis before the heavy monsoon rains hit the cash-strapped Islamic nation in mid-June. The rains triggered unprecedented floods that at one point left a third of the country’s territory submerged, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to move to safer places. The new assessment of damages was announced during a meeting on Wednesday between Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and experts on climate change.