One year ago, record-breaking floods submerged one fifth of Pakistan's total land area for months, affecting some 20 million residents and causing some $10 billion in damage. Eleven million Pakistanis were left homeless, and the aid organization Oxfam estimates that more than 800,000 remain without permanent shelter to this day. Many of them, frustrated by limited government assistance, are struggling to rebuild their own homes. Reuters photographer Adrees Latif was in Pakistan one year ago to record the disaster and has just returned to recreate some of his most iconic images. His then-and-now photos reveal what has changed (and what has not) over the course of a year. Collected below are photos from Latif and others that show how Pakistanis continue to cope with last year's disaster.
Pakistan Floods, One Year Later
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In this image the photo on the left was taken on August 13, 2010, as Kareen Bkhush, aged about 75, stood near his sons as they tried to salvage their wheat and food supplies from a flooded storage facility in Khan Ghar, Pakistan. The photo on the right was taken in the same place one year later, on July 30, 2011, as Bkhush recreated the portrait. "I have not seen such flooding in my lifetime. The water came and it took everything," said Bkhush, a father of ten. "I had to sell my daughters' jewellery to survive," he said. #
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(1 of 2) This image taken one year ago, on August 7, 2010, shows marooned flood victims in the village of Daya Chokha Gharbi reaching for food supplies thrown down from an Army helicopter, near Kot Adu in southern Punjab's Muzaffargarh district. #
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(2 of 2) Residents pose for an image by raising their hands in the air and yelling the traditional Islamic hail, "Allah u Akbar," or "God is Great," in the same cemetery they were photographed one year earlier receiving food aid from an army helicopter, on on July 29, 2011. "I never imagined such a flood. I was trapped in the cemetery for 48 hours before the Army helicopter arrived with food. There was chaos and the villagers were disorderly while vying for rations. Rice packets were falling to the ground and bursting. I stood there and watched in disbelief. I couldn't imagine something like this ever happening." said Nadir Khan, the 34-year-old farmer standing on the right. Khan, seen in the original candid frame one year earlier with his hands on his head, said one villager died. #
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(1 of 2)In this image taken on August 9, 2010, newborn twins lie between the hand of their grandmother Amir Mai and mother Zahida Perveen in the cabin of an army helicopter after they were evacuated from their flooded village of Mooza Dogar Klasra in Kot Adu, located in southern Punjab's Muzaffargarh district. #
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(2 of 2) A year later, on July 29, 2011, twin boys Mohammad Usman (left) and Muhammed Ruhman are photographed in the arms of their mother Zahida Perveen and next to the hand of their grandmother Amir Mai in the courtyard of their home near Kot Adu. "I was so happy, I was weeping when I saw they were boys," said Perveen, a then 25-year-old mother of three girls. One year on, the twins' father Javed Iqbal said, "There has been less work after the floods and I have two more mouths to feed." #
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(1 of 2)A family points towards partially submerged houses one year ago, while taking refuge on a hilltop overlooking the flooded town of Nowshera, northwest Pakistan, on on July 31, 2010. #
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(2 of 2) A hillside view of the town of Nowshera, Pakistan is seen from the same vantage point photographed nearly a year ago during the 2010 Pakistan floods, on on July 27, 2011. "Many businesses and shops never reopened. I have less customers because the laborers have disappeared," said Wazir Zada, 47, who has been running the same tea shop in town for 35 years. #
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(1 of 2) In this image taken a year ago, on August 7, 2010, marooned flood victims, including Mohammed Farhan, aged about 12, and Allah Dita, aged about 64, look to escape by grabbing onto the side bars of a hovering army helicopter which arrived to the village of Daya Chokha Gharbi to distribute cooked chick peas and rice to flood victims in Kot Adu. #
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(2 of 2) Now, on July 29, 2011, Mohammed Farhan, (left) and Allah Dita, pose for a portrait with residents from the village of Daya Chokha Gharbi while standing a top the same cemetery they tried to escape flood waters by hanging onto an army helicopter last year. "All I was thinking was to save my life. To get out," said Dita, when asked what he was thinking while holding onto the side bars one year earlier. Dita, who had stayed behind to look after his house and livestock, managed to be pulled up into the helicopter and was reunited with his five children who had left the flooded village a few days earlier. #
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(1 of 2) Four-year-old Inamullah sits a top furniture and household items recovered in his family courtyard hours after they returned to their home as flood waters started receding in this image taken August 1, 2010 in Nowshera, northwest Pakistan. #
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(2 of 2) Five-year-old Inamullah poses for a portrait in the same courtyard almost a year into the Pakistan floods in this image taken July 26, 2011. "I remember the water, it took my toys. I miss them the most," the now five-year-old Inamullah said in Pashto. Ikramullah, the boy's father, said their 25-member family survived by taking refuge on a nearby hilltop. "He's the most confident amongst his peers. But when it starts to rain, he cries in fear of another flood," his father said. #
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(1 of 2) In this image taken on August 1, 2010, Ikramullah, 37, returned home to find his livestock killed after waters receded from the 2010 floodwaters in Nowshera, northwest Pakistan. #
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(2 of 2) A year later, on July 26, 2011, Ikramullah posed for a portrait in front of the same brick wall and pen where he stood after returning home to find his livestock dead. "Look at my calloused hands, I have been forced into labor, he said. "Businesses have shut down, there is no work here." #
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(2 of 2) Now, on July 26, 2011, a man and boy ride a horse-led cart past the same location where residents were photographed a year ago returning to their homes as flood waters started to recede. "Donations have not arrived to Nowshera due to corruption. Government officials and NGOs here are all corrupt. Pakistanis have lost love for each other because of money," Umar Durrani, a 24-year-old shopkeeper in the area said. #
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A woman, internally displaced by heavy floods a year ago, passes a kettle of tea to her husband in preparation to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan at a camp for flood victims in Nowshera, northwest Pakistan, on August 2, 2011. #
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Floodwater stain marks are seen left on a mosque which was hit by last year's flooding in the village of Baji Khan, about 42 km (26 miles) from Dadu in Pakistan's Sindh province, on July 30, 2011. The village of Baji Khan was devastated by the 2010 floods. #
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A laborer levels stones while working to repair a portion of the Tori Band embankment, where two main breaches occurred due to last year's heavy flooding, in Kashmore about 140km (87 miles) from Sukkur, on June 26, 2011. #
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Allah Ditta sits with his wife Amna, for a portrait on the site of their home, destroyed by last year's floods, in front of their temporary accommodation, on July 29, 2011 in the village of Basti Jagwala Shoki, Pakistan. The flood crisis continues one year on, as hundreds of thousands of people still remain homeless. The residents have not had any assistance and are having to use what meager savings they make on a monthly basis to build their homes. Many residents make an average of $3USD a day. #
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Seven-month-old Layba, whose family was displaced by heavy floods almost a year ago, lies in hammock at a camp for flood victims in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan, on July 20, 2011. #
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A woman, who was affected by the 2010 floods, walks near a door placed at a construction site for a new house in the village of Ramli Khoso, 50 km (31 miles) from Dadu, Sindh province, on July 30, 2011. #
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Sabi Bibi, age 90, who was affected by the 2010 floods, digs mud to build a house while taking refuge in a tent with others in the town of Khairpur Nathan Shah, about 42 km (26 miles) from Dadu in Pakistan's Sindh province, on July 29, 2011. #
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A boy, displaced by heavy floods for almost a year, rides as he leads his family camels on an embankment near Khairpur Nathan Shah in Pakistan's Sindh province, on July 7, 2011. #
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Three-year-old Rajo, who is taking refuge with his family after being displaced by heavy floods for almost a year, stands in front of a blackboard with floodwater stain marks in a classroom in the village of Ramli Khosso, on July 7, 2011. #
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A man, displaced by heavy floods for almost a year, sleeps with his face covered with a net to avoid insects while taking refuge in a camp for flood victims in Sukkur, on July 12, 2011. #
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Laborers work to construct a new bridge, at the site of a bridge destroyed in last year's floods, on July 27, 2011 in the village of Ghaz Ghat, near Muzaffargarh, Pakistan. #
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Twenty year old Zarina Iqbal sits with her one year old daughter Akhsa as her son, four year old Assad plays while they settle in for the evening on the site of their half-built home, destroyed by last year's floods, next to their temporary accomodation, on July 29, 2011 in the village of Basti Jagwala Shoki. #
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One and a half-year-old Muskan, internally displaced by the 2010 floods, sleeps in a hammock over cooking utensils inside her family's tent set up along a roadside in Jamshoro, on July 31, 2011. #
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A Pakistani family crosses the River Swat by bridge at the hill station of Madyan, on July 20, 2011. A year after floods swept away homes and livelihoods, Pakistani survivors of a Taliban uprising are courting fresh disaster in the picturesque Swat valley by refusing to leave for higher ground. #
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Pakistani flood survivors stand in their damaged home perched alongside the River Swat in Madyan, on July 20, 2011, a year after floods swept away homes and livelihoods. #
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Nine-year-old Zahoida, who has been displaced by heavy floods for a year, stands outside of her family tent while taking refuge with others in a camp along a road in Sukkur, on June 27, 2011. #
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A flood-displaced girl carries a water container on her head, which she filled from a nearby hand pump, while taking refuge in a makeshift camp along the road in Sukkur, on June 27, 2011. #
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A man works to demolish the remains of his home, partially destroyed during last year's floods, to build a new house on the same foundation, on July 26, 2011 near the village of Baseera, Pakistan. Families are struggling to rebuild their homes, as the cost of bricks has doubled in most areas and quadrupled in others. For many, the impact of the disaster will continue to be felt for years to come. #
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