“We have buffaloes, cows and goats… if we leave the cattle behind they would be stolen,” said Shah Mohammad, 35.
Mohammad and others were scrambling to find food not just for themselves, but for their animals too.
There was enough for the animals to eat for now, he said, but villagers have been struggling to replenish empty wheat bins.
Aid delivered by boat by charities is the only lifeline for those who can’t or don’t want to leave Karim Bakhsh.
The village has been besieged by murky floodwaters extending for more than a kilometre in some spots.
Villagers gathered on the few dry patches of land to wait for a boat operated by the Alkhidmat Foundation — a Pakistan-based humanitarian organisation — as it puttered through the waist-deep water in the streets.
It was the first aid delivery in days. The boat made multiple stops in the village so relief workers could hand out tents, food packages and other supplies.
An aid worker said the charity had decided to make the deliveries after it found out that some families did not want to leave.
At every stop, there was evidence of the destruction wrought by the torrential rains and floods — the worst in decades.
Most homes and structures were ruined, and villagers were desperate for any material that might help build temporary shelter from both the rain and — when it came out — the scorching sun.
“Our homes fell… We cut down the trees and used that wood to hold up whatever was left of our walls,” said Gul Badshah, 70.
Maqbool Ahmed, another resident, prepared to face a different local threat especially common during floods: venomous snakes.
He connected a small lamp to a car battery, placing the setup on an earthen mound.
“We light it up in the night to guard against snakes,” he told AFP. “Sometimes, cobras and vipers sneak into our place.”
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