International Rescue Committee (IRC)

A flood in the valley

Photos: 
In the absence of bridges, boats made from inner tubes and bamboo ferry passengers and goods across swollen rivers. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
An old man, made homeless by the floods, collects firewood in Pakistan’s Swat valley. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
Amjad Ali (with his neighbor Muhammad Aqil, right) has been forced to flee twice in little over a year. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
Over one million houses have been destroyed by floodwater, leaving an estimated 8 million people homeless. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
A girl sits by a damaged school in Swat district. As a result of the floods, education will be badly disrupted across Pakistan. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
A communal well filled with thick mud in Mingora. Poor sanitary conditions and a lack of safe drinking water have created the potential for serious outbreaks of disease. To help stop the spread of disease, the IRC is distributing water purification tablets. The next step is to distribute drinking water and clean wells. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
In some areas, the Pakistani army has set up makeshift lifts to ferry people across rivers. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.

Already battered by a brutal counter-insurgency war, the people of Pakistan’s Swat Valley are now watching their lives and livelihoods washed away by flood waters.

Photos by Peter Biro/The IRC.