# Floods kill at least 45 across Afghanistan and Pakistan as more rain looms
Event date: 2026-03-30
Heavy rain that triggered severe flooding and landslides has killed at least 45 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past five days, according to Al Jazeera’s report. Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said 28 people were killed in the floods and 49 injured, while Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province reported 17 deaths and 56 wounded. The scale is already broad enough to make this a cross-border emergency rather than a local storm event.
In Afghanistan, the deaths were reported in central and eastern provinces including Parwan, Maidan Wardak, Daikundi and Logar. The authority said more than 100 homes were destroyed and 1,140 families were affected, while weather conditions remained unstable in parts of the country. The report also says a 14-year-old boy died after being struck by lightning in Badghis and that three people drowned there while trying to collect driftwood for heating.
The same storm system disrupted transport and daily life. Several highways were closed in central and eastern Afghanistan, and authorities warned people to avoid rivers and flooded streams while paying close attention to the forecast. In Daikundi, a five-year-old was killed when a roof collapsed, and a woman died in similar circumstances in Nangarhar, underscoring how quickly weather damage can turn into household tragedy.
Pakistan’s side of the story was equally stark. The provincial disaster authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said 17 people were killed, and the region’s proximity to Afghanistan meant the rain and the response were unfolding across a shared border zone. The larger pattern is one that both countries know well: heavy rain, fragile infrastructure and difficult terrain can combine to leave communities exposed before rescue teams can get there.
The emergency response will now be judged by speed as much as by scale. Floods of this kind do not end when the rain stops; they continue in the blocked roads, damaged bridges and unstable riverbanks that can delay help for days. That is why the warning about more rain is so important. It means rescuers are racing not just the water already on the ground but the next wave of weather that could push the toll higher again.
In that sense, the flood story is about time as much as water. The first wave of rescue is followed by a slower, harder phase of shelter management, road repair and family tracing. Because more rain is still forecast, officials are being asked to handle a moving target rather than a finished disaster, and that is what keeps the risk high.
