Record-breaking summer heat are melting glaciers at alarming rates, flooding roads and homes, and leaving entire communities stranded in Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan.
In Hoper Valley, residents are facing nature's fury like never before as the glaciers of Gilgit-Baltistan, once a frozen fortress, have been turning into rivers of destruction, triggering a climate catastrophe.
According to the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority, high temperatures in the region have broken decades old records. Last week, temperatures soared to over 45 degrees Celsius in the city of Chilas, the highest locally in nearly 30 years.
The unprecedented temperatures have accelerated the melting of the Hoper Glacier, leading to heavy flooding in districts across the region.
Entire valleys, Hunza, Nagar, Diamer, were cut off.
Landslides buried roads, fields were submerged, and families fled their homes as a glacial lake burst, floodwaters roaring down.
Among those living in the shadow of this glacier is 25-year-old Sadaqat Ali. He is now watching his home slip away.
"I've been here since I was a child. The glacier has melted dramatically, by at least 30 to 40 feet. And now, with this intense heat, even the snowfall isn't like it used to be," said Sadaqat Ali, a resident in Hoper Valley.
The Hoper Valley road lies in ruins. In Nagar Khas, floods have ripped through irrigation channels and drinking water supplies. Fields once green now are buried in mud. Electricity is out in many areas, and makeshift bridges were washed away, leaving communities stranded.
In Hunza's Hassanabad, the infamous Shisper Glacier has surged again, threatening the Karakoram Highway and dozens of homes downstream.
Local officials have evacuated families in its path, but fear the next outburst could be worse.
"The majority of people here depend on farming, but every summer, glacial floods sweep through and devastate our crops," Ali said.
Disaster response teams are scrambling to reopen roads and restore supplies. But the mountains are crumbling faster than they can react.
Experts warn the glaciers, which feed Pakistan's rivers, are melting at a record rate, and the people who live in their shadow are paying the price.
Massive floods in Pakistan destroy roads, homes, leaving communities stranded
