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SHER SHAH, Pakistan: Rescuers backed by the military raced Wednesday to evacuate thousands of people from flooded villages near the city of Jalalpur Pirwala in eastern Pakistan, officials said, as authorities struggled to shore up embankments against rising waters which touched the official danger mark.

The rescue operation continued overnight and was ongoing.

The flooding has affected nearly 142,000 people in the area, Relief Commissioner Nabil Javed said. Many displaced residents have moved in with relatives, while others are spending sleepless nights on embankments or in relief camps after their homes were submerged.

On Wednesday, rescue crews in boats were seen crisscrossing the waters, pulling people from trees and rooftops. But many stranded villagers complained that those who could afford private boats escaped quickly, leaving the poor to wait for rescuers.

Since Aug. 23, about 4,000 villages across Punjab have been submerged, affecting more than 4.2 million people, displacing 2.1 million and killing at least 68 after heavier-than-normal monsoon rains and repeated releases of water from overflowing Indian dams, according to the Punjab Disaster Management Authority.

“Those who could pay owners of private boats have already left the village,” said survivor Bilal Ahmed, who spoke from a relief camp. “I paid money to use a private boat to leave my village.” He said food supplies are scarce and displaced families receive only one meal a day.

At roadside tents, families waited for food as children cried and women whispered prayers for the waters to recede, hoping for a miracle.

Torrential rains on Wednesday also flooded streets in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. Officials warned that water from swollen rivers will flow into Sindh this week, raising fears of damage downstream.

On Wednesday, bulldozers and heavy machinery were reinforcing embankments around Jalalpur Pirwala in a desperate attempt to protect the city of about 700,000. Authorities said that if the city is breached, hundreds of thousands of lives could be at risk.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif visited Jalalpur Pirwala and pledged compensation for families who lost relatives, homes and livestock in the floods. In a televised speech, she vowed to “fulfill every promise.”

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the Ravi, Chenab, and Sutlej rivers are all in high flood, with water levels reaching the danger mark. Jalalpur Pirwala lies at the confluence of the Chenab and Sutlej rivers before they flow south toward Sindh province, where evacuations are underway in anticipation of flooding.

Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of the provincial disaster management authority, said he was confident the city would be saved.

“More rescue boats have been dispatched,” he said, but he blamed villagers for ignoring repeated warnings. An Associated Press reporter saw families standing knee-deep in muddy water waiting for rescue boats.

For many of those rescued, the future remains uncertain.

“My wife and children are still trapped in our flooded home,” said Muhammad Arshad, tears in his eyes as he boarded a rescue boat. “When the floods came, I was outside the village. For three days, I waited for a boat. Today is my first chance to see them.”

Saima Hussain, 35, who fled her village by an evacuation boat, recounted a haunting scene from her escape. “I saw rescuers pulling a woman’s body from the water,” she said. “Her baby was still alive, clinging to her chest.”

Holding her own baby, she said she had nothing to feed him.

“For two days, he hasn’t had milk,” she said. “God saved us, but we need help as we are now fighting hunger,” she said. ”I hope for a miracle. We pray for the water to recede,” Hussain said.

Since late June, flooding has killed more than 900 people across Pakistan.