PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- More than 400 people have died and thousands of others were made homeless as some of the worst floods in Pakistan's history hit this northwestern region, provincial officials said. Hundreds of thousands of people were believed to be unable to evacuate to safer ground while the authorities struggled to reach the worst-affected areas, officials said. The information minister for the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, put the death toll at 408 in the flooding that followed two days of record rainfall. The region used to be known as the North-West Frontier Province. Hussain warned that the death toll could rise because many towns and villages remained inaccessible, and telecommunication infrastructure had been damaged. Much of the province has been cut off from the rest of the country. Floodwaters have either inundated or damaged all roads and railroad tracks. "This is the worst ever calamity in our history," Hussain said at a news conference. "Whatever that had survived terrorist bombings have been washed away by the floods." --New York Times News Service (37 images)
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Pakistani villagers move into safe place from a flood-hit village near Nowshera , Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Rivers burst their banks during monsoon rains, washing away streets, battering a dam and killing at least 60 people in most severe floods in decades in northwest Pakistan, officials said Thursday. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani residents stand by flood water that entered a residential area of Muzaffarabad on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Sajjad Qayyum
Pakistani residents stand on the upper portion of their houses as flood water enters a residential area of Muzaffarabad on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Sajjad Qayyum
Pakistani villagers try to catch trees floating in the flooded Nelum river in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Aftab Ahmed
Pakistani local residents scramble to safety in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Pakistani villagers move to a safer place from a flood hit village near Nowshera, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani villagers wade through water after heavy rain fall caused flooding in Nowshera near Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Pakistani villagers move into safe place from a flood hit village near Nowshera . Rivers burst their banks during monsoon rains, washing away streets, battering a dam and killing at least 60 people, official said. AP / B.K.Bangash
Pakistani local residents evacuate to safety in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Local residents carry their belongings as they evacuate a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
A Pakistani resident carries some of his belongings as he leaves behind his damaged mud house in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Pakistani local residents evacuate in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Pakistani army soldiers use a boat to evacuate local residents in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Pakistani local residents scramble to safety in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Pakistani women wait for transport to move to a safe place from a flood hit village near Nowshera, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani army soldiers help an elderly villager evacuated from flooded area in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani villagers struggle to move to a safe place from a flood hit village near Nowshera, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani local residents use a rope to flee from rising waters in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
People use a boat to rescue people stranded from their houses after heavy rain fall caused flooding in Nowshera near Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / B.K.Bangash
Local residents remove their belongings as they evacuate a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
Pakistani army soldiers use a boat to evacuate local residents in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 29, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
People with belongings migrate as their houses were flooded following heavy monsoon rains in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Ishtiaq Mahsud
Pakistani villagers move to a safe place from a flood hit village near Nowshera, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
In this handout photograph released by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Department (KPID) on July 30, 2010, an aerial view taken from a helicopter shows houses marooned in flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rains in the flood-hit Nowshera district. AFP/ Getty Images /
An aerial view shows Nowshera city submerged in flood caused by heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. Boats and helicopters struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of villagers cut off by floods in northwest Pakistan on Friday as the government said it was the deadliest such disaster to hit the region since 1929. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Stranded Pakistani villagers wait for rescue helicopters on their house in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
A Pakistan army helicopter evacuates stranded villagers in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. Boats and helicopters struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of villagers cut off by floods in northwest Pakistan on Friday as the government said it was the deadliest such disaster to hit the region since 1929. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
In this image released by the Pakistan Inter Services Public Relations Department, People rush for a helicopter ride as they are evacuated from a village flooded by monsoon rains in Charsadda near Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / Inter Services Public Relations
Pakistani officials help villagers to be evacuated form flooded area in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistan army soldiers evacuate stranded villagers in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
A Pakistani woman sits at the bank of swollen Nelum river flooded by monsoon rains in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Aftab Ahmed
Pakistani villagers pile up their rescued belongings from houses flooded by heavy rain fall in Nowshera near Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / B.K.Bangash
An elderly Pakistani woman sits with two children in a tent after they were evacuated when flood water entered a residential area of Muzaffarabad on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Sajjad Qayyum
Local residents gather on a railway track after fleeing their flooded homes in Nowshera district on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
A Pakistani family eats food on a roadside after fleeing their flooded home in Nowshera district on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / A. Majeed
A man lifts a child as a woman sweeps water from her house flooded by monsoon rains in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Aftab Ahmed
A Pakistani gypsy family take care of their livestock after their make-shift house flooded by heavy rain fall in Burhan near Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. AP / B.K.Bangash
A Pakistani woman kisses a newly born child rescued by Pakistan army helicopter in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
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