When the swollen Swat River shifted course in late August and roared into Naeem Ullah's village in northwest Pakistan, it swept away his home and all 13 of his relatives' houses too.
His sugarcane crop — planted on five hectares (12.4 acres) of leased land — also was wrecked, leaving the 40-year-old jobless, homeless and with few prospects of repaying the money he had borrowed to buy seed and fertilizer.
"I have to start my life from zero," he said in his village of Dagi Mukarram Khan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. "I have lost everything. I can only pray to Allah to give me the strength to face this biggest challenge of my life."
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.