Deadly Floods Continue To Ravage Herat In Afghanistan

An Afghan man salvages his possessions from his partially submerged home following flash flooding that struck in the Guzara district of Herat Province on March 13. 

At least 60 people have been killed by weeks of heavy rain and snow in Afghanistan over the past three weeks, the government's Disaster Ministry said. 

Onlookers gather at a collapsed house where flooding claimed the lives of five family members and injured two others. A local imam said the house had been weakened by the devastating earthquake that struck Herat in October.

About 1,650 houses have been totally or partially ruined and nearly 178,000 heads of livestock have been killed, ministry spokesman Janan Sayeq added.

An elderly man walks through a flooded street following the flash floods after heavy rainfall. 

Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which scientists say is making extreme weather events more harsh and more frequent.

Afghan residents walk through a flooded street following the flash floods.

Foreign aid to Afghanistan has drastically decreased since the fall of the U.S.-backed government and the return of the Taliban, making the already destitute country less prepared to handle natural disasters.

Afghan residents gather near the Pul-i-Malan bridge near the Hari Rud River following the flash floods on the outskirts of Herat on March 12.

The flash flood washed away a flood protection dike built three years ago, causing widespread damage to an agricultural area near the border with Turkmenistan.

Afghan workers cover themselves with plastic sheets as they sit on their hand carts.

The Ministry of National Defense reported that 400 people stranded on the Herat-Islan Qala highway in Herat Province due to flooding were rescued.