Anar Gul, a construction worker in the remote Dur Baba district of eastern Afghanistan, said it rained non-stop for 10 days. His kitchen collapsed, and his neighbour Sayed Afsar Sadat saw a large part of his house destroyed. “Rains like this are coming heavier and earlier each year,” Sadat said. “They are destroying the roads and washing away our crops.”
Deaths and destruction across the region
Last week, torrential rains and flash floods wiped out villages and towns in Afghanistan, leaving at least 31 people dead and hundreds missing. Neighbouring countries have also been hit, with India, Bangladesh and Pakistan experiencing erratic heavy rainfall.
Jesmin Akter lives in Chattogram, Bangladesh, which recorded 412.3mm of rainfall in 24 hours in early July. The flash flood swept through Banshkhali district, destroying her poultry, paddy field, and house. She carried her six children through chest-deep water to her mother’s house and stayed there for over a week. “We have lost everything,” she said. Her daughter has developed a fever due to unsanitary conditions.
Extreme weather from Japan to Taiwan
While wildfires rage in Europe and North America, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam have seen landslides. China’s flood season began in April, with over 600 rivers rising above warning levels — a 35% jump from the five-year average. A landslide in Chongqing killed 11 people and left 50 missing, and a flash flood in Gansu killed 10 and injured 23.
Typhoon Noul prompted the evacuation of more than 890,000 people in Guangdong. Typhoon Maysak inundated parts of Guangxi and caused hundreds of snakes to escape from commercial farms. Forecasters warn more rain is coming: Beijing is expected to receive 20% to 50% above normal rainfall, and four to six typhoons are forecast to make landfall in China this summer.
In Taiwan, repeated downpours in June caused more than NT$330m (about US$10.2m) in agricultural losses, and Taipei recorded its highest monthly rainfall in more than a century.
Climate change link
The extreme weather is linked to climate breakdown. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned of rising flood threats in monsoon regions and glacier melting in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. World Weather Attribution scientists say extreme rainfall from cyclones is being “supercharged” in south-east Asia.
The year 2025 saw devastating storms and record ocean temperatures. Warmer air holds more water vapour, making extreme rainfall more common and intense. Richard Betts of the Met Office Hadley Centre said: “More intense rainfall is an expected consequence of us heating the planet by burning fossil fuels… a warmer atmosphere can carry more water, so when it rains, it rains harder.”
Dr Hosam Faysal of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said the disasters show “the very real, humanitarian effects of a changing climate”. He urged governments to invest in locally-led preparedness to reduce loss of life before climate-related disasters strike, pointing to the coming El Niño as a clear example.
