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NATURAL DISASTERS DEEPEN HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN AFGHANISTAN
Natural disasters continued to drive humanitarian needs across Afghanistan, creating another layer of vulnerability. Across the country, floods, flash floods, landslides and other weather-related hazards have continued to damage homes, disrupt livelihoods and claim lives throughout 2026. While these shocks are a recurring reality in Afghanistan, the scale and frequency of impact recorded this year highlight how environmental stresses are increasingly compounding existing humanitarian needs.
The latest wave of disasters during late July and early August offers a stark reminder of this reality. Between 20 July and 3 August, nearly 5,000 people were affected across 10 provinces. The affected provinces were Ghazni, Kabul, Kapisa, Laghman, Logar, Nuristan, Paktya, Paktika, Panjsher and Parwan, highlighting the wide geographic reach of recent disasters.
The eastern region bore the brunt of the impact, with Nuristan emerging as the most severely affected province. Deadly floods and landslides claimed dozens of lives, including of a humanitarian worker, impacting thousands of people. Hundreds of homes were either damaged or destroyed, leaving many families in urgent need of assistance and shelter support. Yet these incidents represent only a fraction of a much larger picture unfolding across the country.
Since the beginning of the year, natural disasters have affected more than 92,000 people across all 34 provinces and 202 districts of Afghanistan. The cumulative impact has been substantial. Between January and early August, 97 people were killed and 331 injured, while nearly 10,000 houses were damaged and more than 2,100 houses were destroyed, leaving thousands of families facing longer-term recovery challenges. Overall, nearly 13,000 families have been affected by natural disasters nationwide.
What stands out in this year’s data is both the scale and geographic spread of the impacts. Although eastern Afghanistan has experienced the highest number of affected people, disasters have reached communities in every region of the country.
More than 51,000 people were affected in the eastern region alone, while significant impacts were also recorded in the southern and western regions.
Behind these figures are families who have lost shelter, farmers whose agricultural land has been flooded, and communities struggling with damaged roads, irrigation systems, water networks and local markets. For households already facing limited livelihood opportunities, the loss of a home or productive assets can push them deeper into vulnerability and increase their reliance on humanitarian assistance.
Flooding continues to be the defining hazard of 2026. Nearly 88,000 people affected by natural disasters this year were impacted by floods and flash floods, making them by far the largest driver of disaster related humanitarian needs. Seasonal rainfall, rapid snowmelt, environmental degradation and inadequate infrastructure continue to amplify risks, particularly in rural and mountainous areas where communities often have limited capacity to recover.
The consequences are especially severe in provinces where communities have limited coping capacity and where access limitations can complicate assessments and response efforts. In places such as Nuristan, recurring disasters often strike communities that are already isolated and face challenges obtaining services and assistance.
The growing impact of natural hazards also highlights the close relationship between climate shocks and humanitarian vulnerability. Decades of conflict, environmental degradation and underinvestment in infrastructure have weakened resilience in many areas. At the same time, changing weather patterns may be contributing to more intense and less predictable hazard events, increasing both exposure and risk.
As humanitarian actors respond to immediate needs, there is growing understanding that emergency assistance alone cannot address the challenge. Investments in early warning systems, community preparedness, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measures remain essential to reduce future losses and strengthen resilience.
For Afghanistan, natural disasters are no longer isolated events. They have become a recurring driver of humanitarian need, affecting communities across the country and reinforcing existing vulnerabilities. As the year progresses, strengthening preparedness alongside response efforts will remain critical to protecting lives, livelihoods and community resilience.
“Before the flood, I had a very beautiful home. We lived happily and had everything,” recalled one woman in Nuristan. “When the flood came, it swept away our entire house and all of our belongings.”
Her story was one of many shared during a recent OCHA mission to flood-affected communities in Nuristan Province, where families are struggling to rebuild after devastating flash floods destroyed homes, livelihoods and critical infrastructure.
Many survivors described how the floods forced entire communities to flee. Although emergency assistance has reached affected areas, the reality remains challenging for many families now living in temporary shelters.
“We are living in a tent under very difficult conditions,” a survivor said. “We have nothing to light the tent, and we do not have the money to refill the gas cylinder.” The floods also destroyed crops and agricultural land, threatening livelihoods at a time when many families were already struggling. One resident explained that years of hard work were washed away along with the floodwater.
“The floods destroyed all our crops. I had 2.5 jeribs of farmland, and that land was also washed away by the floods.” Women and children have been among those most affected. Families reported injuries sustained during the floods and described the difficulties of caring for loved ones while displaced. “Our children were injured, and women were also injured,” a survivor said. “Our request to the international community is to help and support the affected women and children.”
During the mission, OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko highlighted the particular challenges facing women in the aftermath of the disaster. “Women have been disproportionately affected here,” she said. “They now have to navigate taking care of their families in temporary shelters, without proper access to sanitation, hygiene or safe drinking water.”
Humanitarian partners continue to scale up the response through Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Shelter and WASH interventions, despite access challenges caused by damaged roads and floodwaters.
For many families, the immediate response has provided temporary relief, but the longer-term challenge of rebuilding homes and livelihoods remains.
“The assistance provided by the organizations that have supported us will not be enough to meet our needs beyond one month,” a survivor said. Cherevko emphasized the importance of continued support for flood-affected communities.
“What matters most now is that these communities continue to be supported,” she said. “Not only so they can rebuild their lives, but so they can also be prepared when the next disaster strikes.”
As the immediate impact of the floods passes, families are beginning the long process of recovery. Yet the stories shared during the mission serve as a reminder that behind every disaster are people rebuilding their homes, livelihoods and hopes for the future.