What happened in Pakistan?
Rare cloudbursts triggered flash floods in the northwest of Pakistan in June 2025. Water swept through mountain villages and caused widespread destruction. Cloudbursts are sudden downpours, dumping over 100mm of rain in just one hour, causing huge floods.
Pakistan’s monsoon season always brings heavy rain, but this year’s storms were unusually intense. Although local communities are used to monsoon rains, the intensity and speed of the cloudbursts caught people off guard. Homes were crushed by flood water and landslides, sweeping away entire villages. People have described watching everything they own being washed away or buried.
How ShelterBox responded
Severe monsoon flooding across northern and eastern Pakistan displaced millions and destroyed thousands of homes. Working with Islamic Relief Pakistan, ShelterBox provided families with emergency tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mosquito nets, solar lights, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, and mattresses.
In the north, support helped families stay near damaged homes and protect themselves from disease. In the east—where historic flooding left communities submerged for weeks—relocatable shelters gave families safety and dignity while they waited for waters to recede.
This response built on our long-standing partnership in Pakistan during previous floods and earthquakes.
Monitoring and evaluation is ongoing, as well as preparations for future emergencies.
Shamal’s Story
Life with no roof over your head to protect your family in the scorching sun, or from heavy rains would be hard for anyone, but it’s even worse for those who were affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2022 and again in 2025.
The floods destroyed everything for thousands of families, leaving them with only the belongings they could carry on their backs. Homes were lost, and livelihoods were destroyed, all washed away.
Shamal was one of many affected by the floods. She is a mother of five children, and when the floods struck her village, they were left with nothing. Shamal and her family slept outside for months, surviving on minimal resources. When they returned to their village, they had no home to go back to, they lived in a temporary shelter for almost a year. Shamal describes what it was like.
“Many people came, wrote down our names for giving us aid but never came back. ShelterBox and Islamic Relief came to us, assured us to provide aid and now we look at what they have done for us, we cannot thank them enough, we have a home again, we don’t have to sleep this winter under the open sky. My children are protected, and they have nothing to fear now, I can work and earn some money, our biggest issue has been resolved.” – Shamal, 2025
