KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The season's first heavy rains and snowfall ended a long drought but triggered flash floods in several parts of Afghanistan that killed at least 17 people and injured 11 others, an Afghan national disaster management official said Thursday.
The severe weather also disrupted daily life in the central, northern, southern and western regions, said Mohammad Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.
He said the floods also damaged infrastructure in affected areas, killed livestock and affected 1,800 families, worsening conditions in already vulnerable urban and rural communities.
Hammad said the agency has sent assessment teams to the hardest-hit areas and studies are ongoing to determine further needs.
Afghanistan, like neighboring Pakistan and India, is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, especially flash floods that occur after the monsoon.
Decades of conflict, poor infrastructure, deforestation and the growing effects of climate change have increased the impact of such disasters, especially in remote areas where many houses are built of mud and offer limited protection from flash floods.
