Islamabad (CNN) Pakistan is racing to prevent further loss of life as the country reels from one of its worst climate disasters with floodwater threatening to cover up to a third of the country of 220 million people by the end of the monsoon season.
Climate change minister Sherry Rehman said Sunday the unprecedented rain had created a "climate catastrophe" with floodwaters submerging homes, destroying farmland and displacing millions of people.
"We've had to deploy the navy for the first time to operate in Indo-Pakistan, because much of it resembles a small ocean," she told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
On Monday, the death toll reached 1,061 since mid-June, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), as the unrelenting rain raised fears of more fatalities to come.
"By the time this is over, we could well have one quarter or one third of Pakistan under water," Rehman told Turkish news outlet TRT World on Thursday.
On Monday, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies showed the scale of the disaster -- homes and fields completely submerged along the Indus River, as well as the cities of Rajanpur and Rojhan in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province.
Video released by the Pakistan Army showed troops staging treacherous rescues by helicopter of people stranded in floodwaters -- including one boy trapped on rocks in the middle of a raging river in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Rapid flash floods have destroyed more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) of road, 130 bridges and 495,000 homes have been damaged, according to NDMA's latest situation report, making access to flooded areas even more difficult.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Butto-Zardari said Sunday this year's monsoon season had been "absolutely devastating."
"I haven't seen any destruction or devastation of this scale," said Butto-Zardari. "I find it very difficult to put into words the phraseologies that we are used to, whether it's monsoon rains or flooding, doesn't quite seem to encapsulate the ongoing devastation and disaster that we are still witnessing."
A national calamity
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined in relief efforts over the weekend, dropping off supplies from a helicopter in areas difficult to reach by boat or land, according to videos from his office.
"Visiting flood affected areas and meeting people. The magnitude of the calamity is bigger than estimated," Sharif said in a tweet on Saturday. "Times demand that we come together as one nation in support of our people facing this calamity. Let us rise above our differences and stand by our people who need us today."
After meeting with ambassadors and diplomats in Islamabad on Friday, he called for help from the international community.
On Monday, Peter Ophoff, the IFRC head delegate in Pakistan said the aid network had appealed for more than $25 million to provide urgent relief for an estimated 324,000 people in the country.