In Pictures: Pakistan's Lethal Floods

The rains that began in June have destroyed swaths of vital crops and damaged or destroyed more than a million homes, such as these in Balochistan Province.

A woman salvages her belongings near a makeshift home surrounded by water in Sohbatpur.

Because roads and bridges like this one in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province are being washed away, authorities and NGOs are finding it difficult to reach more than 33 million people affected by the floods.

With dry land limited, displaced people like this man in Mehar are seeking elevated positions to escape the flooded plains.

"We don't even have space to cook food. We need help," Rimsha Bibi, a schoolgirl in Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan, told the AFP news agency.

The summer monsoon season often brings with it torrential rains that are needed for agriculture in areas such as Dera Allah Yar, in Balochistan.

However, this years monsoons have caused widespread misery, killing hundreds of people and devastating livestock and crops.

Pakistani officials have blamed climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world, for the destruction in areas such as the city of Sohbat Pur (pictured) in Baluchistan Province.
 

Compared to more affluent countries, Pakistan emits only a fraction of the greenhouse gases that are warming the world, yet it suffers outsized damage. 

For families such as this one in Sohbatpur, in southwestern Balochistan Province, the nonstop rains have raised the possibility of food shortages during what is expected to be the most damaging monsoon season in recent memory.

"To see the devastation on the ground is really mind-boggling," Pakistani Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told AFP.

"When we send in water pumps, they say 'Where do we pump the water?' It's all one big ocean, there's no dry land to pump the water out." Rehman added.

An overview shows fields and homes along the Indus River before flooding, in Rojhan on March 24.

The same location showing the Indus River during flooding on August 28. 

Pakistan's meteorological office says the country as a whole had been deluged with twice the usual monsoon rainfall, but Balochistan and Sindh provinces had seen more than four times the average of the last three decades.

The disaster could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan, where the economy is in free fall and an already struggling population are now lining up to receive food delivered by the Pakistani Army.

The floods have made Pakistan's already dire need for international assistance worse. The government is attempting to help by compensating individuals who have been impacted, like these women in Sukkur, Sindh Province.
 

Woman and children eat food distributed by a charity in Sukkur, Sindh Province.

In the midst of the massive flooding, international aid has started to arrive in Pakistan. On August 28, cargo planes from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates arrived with tents, food, and other supplies.

Flood victims stand next to their tents in Mehar on August 29. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to come to Pakistan's aid as he launched a $160 million appeal to help the tens of millions affected by the disaster.  "Let's stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change. Today, it's Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country," he said.