Pakistani authorities on Sunday defended their response to flash floods that killed more than 200 people in a single northwestern district last week.

Residents in Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides.

There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method in remote areas.

The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted.

In Buner's Peer Baba village, Mateen Khan said his house was badly hit by floods and that all his family's possessions were washed away.

"We urge the government to help - at least build us a kitchen and provide a tent so we can live in it for now," Khan said.

Lt. Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, told a hastily convened news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change.

Since the monsoon season began in June, Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, he added.

He warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month.

An emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half the damaged roads in the district had reopened by Sunday, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach cut-off villages.

Crews were clearing piles of rocks and mud dumped by the floods.

They were still using heavy machinery to remove the rubble of collapsed homes after families reported that some of their relatives were missing.

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters.

In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes.

The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged northwest, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks.

Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia.