# Punjab floods kill at least 63 in a day as rescuers race to reach stranded residents
*Event date: 2025-07-16*
Torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan's Punjab province have killed at least 63 people and injured 290 in just 24 hours, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
The BBC said most victims were crushed by collapsing buildings, while others drowned or were electrocuted. The downpours began on Wednesday morning and quickly overwhelmed parts of the province, closing several expressways and forcing officials to cancel or delay dozens of flights. In Rawalpindi, authorities declared a public holiday to keep people at home and ordered residents near a swelling river to evacuate.
The city of Chakwal was among the hardest hit, with 400mm of rainfall in a day. Photographs and video from the area showed rescue boats searching for stranded residents and military helicopters circling flooded neighbourhoods. The provincial government said emergency measures had been declared in several areas, while Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz urged residents to follow safety guidance.
The scale of the damage has left thousands of rescuers on standby across Punjab. The report said more rain and flash flooding were expected over the weekend, suggesting the immediate threat remained active even as emergency teams tried to clear roads, reach isolated communities and rescue people from submerged streets and buildings.
The latest deaths lifted Pakistan's nationwide monsoon toll to nearly 180 since late June. More than half of those killed were children, showing how the season's danger falls heavily on families in low-lying or densely built areas. Collapsing structures, electricity hazards and floodwater all contributed to the death toll.
Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The report noted that it is squeezed by two major weather systems, one bringing drought and heat and the other monsoon rains. It also has more than 13,000 glaciers, many of which are melting at an accelerated pace. Those long-term factors matter because they make seasonal downpours more dangerous, especially in urban areas with weak drainage and fragile buildings.
The current flooding also evokes the catastrophic 2022 monsoon season, when a third of the country was submerged and 1,700 people died. The economic damage from that disaster exceeded $30 billion. The comparison underscores how quickly Pakistan's annual monsoon season can escalate from severe weather into a national emergency.
For now, the practical response is about life-saving access: clearing roads, warning communities, and moving people out of the path of rising water. But the figures already point to a severe human toll, and the coming days will likely determine whether this wave of rain remains a one-day disaster or turns into a longer regional emergency.
