Flash floods devastate Buner, Pakistan after rare cloudburst kills hundreds
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Pakistan defends flood response after more than 270 people killed
54 bodies found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighbouring Kashmir. Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600 people. Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year. Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in South Asia. Pakistan produced less than 1% planet-warming emissions, but faced heat waves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods and cloudbursts now. The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, particularly in rugged north-west of the country, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)
Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighbouring Kashmir.
Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency service, said 54 bodies were found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday.
Villagers collect items from the rubble of their partially damaged home in Pir Baba, an area of Buner district, in the north-west of Pakistan (Muhammad Sajjad/AP)
Mr Suhail said villagers remained missing, and search efforts were focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into houses like explosions.
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Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600.
In India-administered Kashmir, located across Pakistan’s north-eastern border, rains triggered more flash floods in two villages in the Kathua district, killing seven people, officials said on Sunday.
Rescuers in Chositi village are still looking for dozens of missing people after the area was hit by flash floods last week during an annual Hindu pilgrimage. At least 60 people were killed, and some 150 injured. More than 300 others were rescued.
Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides (Muhammad Sajjad/AP)
Residents in Buner have accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method in remote areas.
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The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted.
Lieutenant General Inam Haider, chairman of the national disaster management authority, told a hastily convened news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change.
Since the monsoon season began in June, Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, he said.
He warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month.
Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters (Muhammad Sajjad/AP)
Some countries have reached out to Islamabad offering help, but Lt Gen Haider said Pakistan had sufficient resources and did not require foreign assistance at this time.
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Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the provincial disaster management authority, said there was “no forecasting system anywhere in the world” that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst, a sudden and intense downpour.
Idrees Mahsud, a disaster management official, said Pakistan’s early warning system used satellite imagery and meteorological data to send alerts to local authorities. These were shared through the media and community leaders.
An emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half the damaged roads in the district had reopened by Sunday, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach cut-off villages.
Crews were clearing piles of rocks and mud dumped by the floods. They were still using heavy machinery to remove the rubble of collapsed homes after families reported that some of their relatives were missing.
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Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters.
Pakistan suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season (Muhammad Sajjad/AP)
In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes.
The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged north-west of the country, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks.
Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia.
Khalid Khan, a weather expert, said Pakistan produced less than 1% of planet-warming emissions but faced heat waves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods and now cloudbursts, underscoring how climate change was devastating communities within hours.
Lawyer ‘very confident’ a foreign adversary attacked Canadian diplomats in Cuba
Lawyer says he is “very confident” a foreign actor is to blame for the Canadians’ health difficulties. The Canadian government says it has found no evidence of foul play by a foreign adversary. A legal action against Ottawa over the health problems is still grinding along in Federal Court. The 17 plaintiffs, who seek millions of dollars in damages, allege the Canadian government failed to protect them, hid crucial information and downplayed the seriousness of the risks. The government has denied negligence and wrongdoing in relation to the health issues in Cuba. Theories about the cause have included pesticide spraying, the effect of chirping crickets, malfunctioning eavesdropping devices, and targeted energy or sonic attacks by an enemy state. The symptoms include headaches, memory loss, mood changes, vision problems, nausea and nosebleeds. The U.S. has reported similar health issues, commonly known as Havana Syndrome. The Global Affairs report traces the various steps federal agencies have taken over the years in response to the illness complaints, including security, medical and environmental assessments.
Eight years after foreign service officials and their dependants began reporting such symptoms as headaches, memory loss, mood changes, vision problems, nausea and nosebleeds, a legal action against Ottawa over the health problems is still grinding along in Federal Court.
The 17 plaintiffs, who seek millions of dollars in damages, allege the Canadian government failed to protect them, hid crucial information and downplayed the seriousness of the risks. The government has denied negligence and wrongdoing.
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Several U.S. personnel who worked in Cuba have reported similar health issues, commonly known as Havana Syndrome. Theories about the cause have included pesticide spraying, the effect of chirping crickets, malfunctioning eavesdropping devices, and targeted energy or sonic attacks by an enemy state.
The Canadian government says it has found no evidence of foul play by a foreign adversary.
A Global Affairs Canada report completed in August 2024 says the department has concluded that the unexplained health incidents “were not the result of a malicious act of a foreign actor.”
The report, drawing on the work of an interdepartmental task force and external experts, says pre-existing medical conditions, environmental factors and conventional illnesses “were likely to have been important factors in many of the symptoms experienced.”
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The report adds that the findings “do not cast doubt on the authenticity of the symptoms reported by staff members and their dependants.”
Paul Miller, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told The Canadian Press he is “very confident” a foreign actor is to blame for the Canadians’ health difficulties.
“I really trust the people that I have spoken with and met with,” he said.
“I have absolutely no faith in the (Global Affairs Canada) report because they are trying to put out the narrative that works for them.”
The plaintiffs’ court action, filed in 2019, remains unresolved.
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Three years ago, the parties agreed to the appointment of a former Supreme Court judge to mediate the claims of nine family members in the case.
Miller said the two days of talks in early 2023 “just went nowhere.”
He said he has made efforts to file new information in the case but the material is being treated as confidential pending the resolution of concerns about the disclosure of sensitive or potentially injurious information, as defined by the Canada Evidence Act.
The Global Affairs report traces the various steps federal agencies have taken over the years in response to the illness complaints, including security, medical and environmental assessments.
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A multi-agency Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, led by the RCMP, opened an investigation in June 2017.
Global Affairs and RCMP officials began travelling regularly to Cuba as part of the investigation to look at the possibility of malicious attacks, the report says. Canadian officials also shared information with foreign partners, including the United States.
In 2019, instruments designed to detect and capture evidence of acoustic and radiation surges, and to measure environmental effects — such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and ozone levels — were installed in the living quarters of Canadian staff in Havana.
“The data collected from the instruments did not provide relevant and probative information to identify a cause for the symptoms,” the Global Affairs report says. “As such, in 2022, the instruments were removed.”
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The integrated national security team concluded “there was no criminality and no evidence attributing these health symptoms to a foreign actor,” the report adds.
“In their conclusions, the RCMP and other domestic partner agencies assess that there is no known criminality, no known attribution for (unexplained health incidents) and no patterns related to symptoms, age, gender, location, or other variable.”
The U.S. intelligence community looked at possible evidence of a foreign adversary’s involvement, the feasibility of tools that could cause the reported symptoms and whether medical analysis could help find answers.
A March 1, 2023, report from the U.S. National Intelligence Council said these lines of inquiry led most intelligence community agencies to conclude — with varying levels of confidence — that it was “very unlikely” a foreign adversary was responsible for the health issues reported by American personnel.
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Global Affairs, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP subsequently met to discuss the U.S. council’s findings.
The RCMP indicated that “since no criminality was uncovered, its criminal investigation would be concluded,” and CSIS advised it also would be wrapping up its investigations for similar reasons, the Global Affairs report says.
Overall, the Canadian efforts “have not uncovered a clear common cause of the symptoms experienced by government of Canada employees,” the report adds. “Canada’s findings are aligned with the conclusions of the United States on their various health studies and the security report published by the National Intelligence Council.”
Miller points to other research and testimony that challenge those findings.
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Lawyer Mark Zaid, representing several U.S. personnel with symptoms, told a congressional hearing in May 2024 there was intelligence, scientific and medical evidence substantiating the reports of anomalous health incidents, and that some were caused by a foreign adversary.
Zaid, who had authorized access to secret details, said he was convinced that “the evidence that exists in the classified arena directly contradicts the public conclusions” provided by U.S. federal agencies about the cause of the health symptoms.
Global Affairs says it stands by the findings of its 2024 report.
Department spokesperson John Babcock said the foreign ministry continues to support the Canadian diplomats and their dependants.
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“For privacy and security reasons, Global Affairs Canada cannot comment on the specifics of the ongoing investigations, individual cases, nor on specific security measures,” he said in an emailed response to questions.
“We cannot provide further comment on this matter as it is before the courts.”
Internal Global Affairs notes — prepared last year to help answer questions about the department’s report — say the unexplained health incidents “highlighted the challenges of providing responsive health care to diplomats and their families in the context of unforeseen crisis situations abroad.”
The notes, obtained through the Access to Information Act, say the department had initiated a “thorough review” of the department’s overseas health program for employees and their dependants in missions around the world.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2025.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
Mt. Hope Bridge reopens early after resurfacing project finishes ahead of schedule
The Mount Hope Bridge reopens to traffic at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16. The bridge had closed to all traffic on Aug. 14. The project involved milling the road surface and applying a smooth overlay from curb to curb.
The bridge, which closed to all traffic at 7 p.m. on Aug. 14, had not been scheduled to reopen until 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 18, but “thanks to a great crew and beautiful weather, we were able to complete the resurfacing project ahead of schedule,” said Lori Caron Silveira, RITBA’s executive director.
Silveira also thanked officials in Bristol and Portsmouth, the two towns connected by the bridge, for their cooperation in the project, which involved milling the road surface and applying a smooth overlay from curb to curb.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Mt. Hope Bridge reopens Aug. 16 after resurfacing project finishes early
Laura Loomer Congratulates Herself for ‘Personally’ Saving Americans from Hamas
Far-right activist Laura Loomer claims credit for State Department decision to freeze visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza. State Department announced the pause on Saturday while a “full and thorough review’ of the process for granting medical-humanitarian visas is carried out. Announcement made just a day after she reposted a series of videos from the medical charity Heal Gaza allegedly depicting the arrival of children injured by Israeli bombings at a San Francisco airport for medical treatment in the U.S. “Today I saved so many American citizens from being killed by pro-HAMAS jihadis,” she wrote in response to the visa halt. President Donald Trump has previously described her as “a fantastic woman, a true patriot” and admitted that he listens to her policy recommendations.
“Today I saved so many American citizens from being killed by pro-HAMAS jihadis,” Loomer wrote in response to the visa halt. “God only knows how many lives I personally saved today by blowing the whistle on rogue actors at State Department giving visas to Gazan families.”
The State Department announced the pause on Saturday while a “full and thorough review” of the process for granting medical-humanitarian visas is carried out.
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The announcement was made just a day after Loomer reposted a series of videos from the medical charity Heal Gaza allegedly depicting the arrival of children injured by Israeli bombings at a San Francisco airport for medical treatment in the U.S.
“Why are any Islamic invaders coming into the US under the Trump admin?,” Loomer wrote in captions to the video. “Who signed off on these visas? They should be fired.”
While she is not a government employee, following two failed Congressional runs, Loomer’s lobbying of the Trump administration has reportedly been influential in a number of key policy decisions.
Notably, Loomer has claimed credit for the sacking or resignation of more than a dozen people within the government.
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President Donald Trump has previously described her as “a fantastic woman, a true patriot,” and admitted that he listens to her policy recommendations.
Laura Loomer shows her support for President Donald Trump at a campaign event for Ron DeSantis on Oct. 5, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. / Joe Raedle / Getty Images
“It’s amazing how fast we can get results from the Trump administration,” Loomer wrote in response to the State Department’s most recent policy shift following her video posts.
New York Times journalist Hamed Aleaziz has reported that Loomer claims she spoke directly with Secretary of State Marco Rubio about what she described as the threat of Islamic invasion through the humanitarian visa program.
British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote in response to the report that, if both Trump and Rubio are taking advice from Loomer, “we are f—ed as a country.”
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Heal Gaza, the organisation that originally posted the clips, describes itself as a “non-political, non-profit organization” founded in January 2024 in response to the “unimaginable devastation in Gaza.”
The organisation is financially supported through private donations, not taxpayer funding, and claims to have evacuated 50 children from the war-torn territory to receive life-saving surgeries, prosthetics, and medical rehabilitation in the U.S.
According to Loomer, such work is not charitable in nature but in fact a covert means to “facilitate chain migration.”
“There are people who want to invade our country and bring HAMAS supporters to our country under the guise of ‘humanitarianism’,” Loomer wrote.
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The U.S. has issued some 3,800 B1/B2 visitor visas, allowing foreigners to receive medical treatment in the country, to people with Palestinian Authority travel documents.
Reports suggest that more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the violence in the territory broke out in October 2023.
Pakistan defends flood response after over 270 people killed in northwestern district
54 bodies found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighboring Kashmir. Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600.. Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, he added. The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted. It warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month. The head of one of the deadliest incidents, 24 people died in the village of Qadar Nagar when floodwaters swept out their home on the eve of a wedding. In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed hundreds of millions of homes. The country suffers regular floods and landslides during the monsoon season.
Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighboring Kashmir.
Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency service, said 54 bodies were found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday.
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Suhail said villagers remain missing, and search efforts are focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into houses like explosions.
Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600.
In India-administered Kashmir, located across Pakistan’s northeastern border, rains triggered more flash floods in two villages in the Kathua district, killing seven people, officials said Sunday. Rescuers in Chositi village are still looking for dozens of missing people after the area was hit by flash floods last week during an annual Hindu pilgrimage. At least 60 people were killed, and some 150 injured. Over 300 others were rescued.
Warnings of more intense rain to come
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Residents in Buner have accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method in remote areas.
The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted.
Lt. Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, told a hastily convened news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change. Since the monsoon season began in June, Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, he added.
He warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month.
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Some countries have reached out to Islamabad offering help, but Haider said Pakistan has sufficient resources and does not require foreign assistance at this time.
Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said there was “no forecasting system anywhere in the world” that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst, a sudden and intense downpour.
Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, said the lack of a timely warning system caused casualties and forced many to flee their homes at the last moment.
“Survivors escaped with nothing,” he said. “If people had been informed earlier, lives could have been saved and residents could have moved to safer places.”
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People still missing
Idrees Mahsud, a disaster management official, said Pakistan’s early warning system used satellite imagery and meteorological data to send alerts to local authorities. These were shared through the media and community leaders. He said monsoon rains that once only swelled rivers now also triggered urban flooding.
An emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half the damaged roads in the district had reopened by Sunday, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach cut-off villages.
Crews were clearing piles of rocks and mud dumped by the floods. They were still using heavy machinery to remove the rubble of collapsed homes after families reported that some of their relatives were missing.
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In one of the deadliest incidents, 24 people from one family died in the village of Qadar Nagar when floodwaters swept through their home on the eve of a wedding. The head of the family, Umar Khan, said he survived the floods because he was out of the house at the time. Four of his relatives have yet to be found.
Extreme weather
Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters. In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes.
The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged northwest, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks.
Advertisement Advertisement
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Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia.
Khalid Khan, a weather expert, said Pakistan produces less than 1% of planet-warming emissions but faces heatwaves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods and now cloudbursts, underscoring how climate change is devastating communities within hours.
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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Rasool Dawar in Buner, Pakistan, contributed to this story.
Muhammad Sajjad And Riaz Khan, The Associated Press