August 30, 2010
Pakistan's deadliest floods in decades, which began in July, have killed over 1,600 people and displaced about 20 million in the country. The deluge submerged one-fifth of the country, making it difficult for aid workers and officials to provide relief to the victims.
The floodwaters wiped out part of Pakistan's most fertile agricultural land, damaged roads, bridges, power stations, electricity facilities, hospitals, schools, homes and left millions hungry, setting back longer-term development goals. Although relief camps have been set up for the flood victims, the facilities are still insufficient.
Flooding began on July 22, 2010 in the province of Baluchistan. The swollen waters then poured across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest before flowing south into Punjab and Sindh. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been the worst hit with over 500 houses washed away by floodwaters. Over 90 highways have been damaged and many big thoroughfares in the province closed for traffic.
Unprecedented rains also triggered floods and landslides, sweeping away thousands of homes and devastating farmland in one of Pakistan's most impoverished regions, already hard hit by years of Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked violence.
The country's infrastructure was also devastated in the summer of 2010. More than 5,000 miles of roads and railways were washed away, along with some 7,000 schools and more than 400 health facilities.
The major losses have been in the agricultural and livestock sectors and floods have destroyed crops of cotton, rice, sugarcane and tobacco worth billions of rupees. Over 200,000 domesticated animals have also died and poultry in many areas have been completely wiped out, the FAO said.
The UN estimated that more than 600,000 hectares of crops were destroyed in Punjab, the country's breadbasket. Farmers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have lost 35 billion rupees worth of crops.
The government said it has rushed help to the devastated northwestern province. Pakistani television channels also showed flood survivors gathered at roadsides, seeking transport to nearby towns.
U.S. Air Force cargo planes landed in Rawalpindi with food packages. It has already committed $35 million to help people in the affected areas. The U.S. has rushed helicopters, boats, pre-fabricated bridges, mobile water treatment units and food supplies to affected areas. The United States has also urgently rushed humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, including food, shelter and medical supplies.
Conveying his sorrow over the devastating floods in Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh renewed the offer of $5 million aid. Singh said India was ready to do more to help the victims.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani traveled to the flood-hit parts of southern Pakistan where he told reporters his country has been set back many years because of the devastation.
Providing clean water for millions and avoiding the spread of diseases like cholera are the first priorities. But there are also looming food shortages and price spikes, even in cities. There is also the danger that farmers will miss the fall planting season, raising the prospect of a new cycle of shortfalls next year.
The U.N spokesman says hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian relief will be needed in coming months while in the long term, he says, billions may be needed to rebuild infrastructure and restore livelihoods
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| A girl floats her brother across flood waters whilst salvaging valuables from their flood ravaged home on August 7, 2010 in the village of Bux Seelro near to Sukkur, Pakistan. Rescue workers and armed forces continued rescue operations in Pakistan's heartland province of Sindh. Local residents across Sindh and Punjab are expected to be hit hard with waters expected to rise dramatically. Deadly flooding across Pakistan, has claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people and has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes, in what is the country's worst floods since 1929. Aid organisations estimate that over 3 million people have been affected by flooding. |
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| SUKKUR, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 7: A boy sleeps on a make-shift bed as flood waters surround his family home on August 7, 2010 in the village of Bux Seelro near to Sukkur, Pakistan. Rescue workers and armed forces continued rescue operations in Pakistan's heartland province of Sindh. Local residents across Sindh and Punjab are expected to be hit hard with waters expected to rise dramatically. Deadly flooding across Pakistan, has claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people and has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes, in what is the country's worst floods since 1929. Aid organisations estimate that over 3 million people have been affected by flooding. |
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| NOWSHERA, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 2: A family evacuating Nowshera waits in traffic as other residents block the road in pursuit of relief supplies on August 2, 2010 in Nowshera, Pakistan. Rescue workers and troops in northwest Pakistan struggled to reach thousands of people affected by the country's worst floods since 1929, according to officials. Heavy monsoon rains have triggered severe, deadly flooding in Northwest Pakistan, claiming the lives of more than 1,100 people and forcing thousands from their homes. The International Red Cross estimates that around two and half million people nationwide are affected by the disaster. |
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| NOWSHERA, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 1: A woman looks onwards as she surveys the damage to her flood affected home on August 1, 2010 in Nowshera, Pakistan. Rescue workers and troops in northwest Pakistan struggled to reach thousands of people affected by the country's worst floods since 1929, according to officials. Heavy monsoon rains have triggered severe, deadly flooding in Northwest Pakistan, claiming the lives of more than 800 people and forcing thousands from their homes. The United Nations estimates that around one million people nationwide are affected by the disaster. |
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| A Pakistani wades through heavy floodwater near his collapsed house in Camp Karoona near Nowshera, Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. The U.N., relying on Pakistani figures, says the number of people affected by flooding over the past two weeks is 13.8 million _ more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, although the death toll in each of those disasters was much higher than the 1,500 people killed in the floods. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) |
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| Pakistani army soldiers carry newly born twin boys of Zahida Perween, who delivered her twins on the road, from a helicopter to an ambulance to take them to the hospital in Sunawa at the Muzaffar Gar area in Punjab province on August 9, 2010. Around 13.8 million people have been affected by massive floods in Pakistan, making the scale of the disaster worse than the devastating 2004 tsunami, a UN official said. |
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| Pakistani villagers stand on the remains of a bridge washed away by heavy flooding in Bannu in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. It will cost billions of dollars for Pakistan to recover from massive floods that have devastated the country, further straining a government already dependent on foreign aid to prop up its economy and back its war against Islamist militants, the U.N. said Sunday.(AP Photo/Ijaz Mohammad) |
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| Pakistani children sit on a bed to eat their food, in a flood hit area of Qasim Bella, on the outskirts of Multan, Pakistan, on Saturday, July 31, 2010. The death toll in the massive flooding in Pakistan surged past 800 as floodwaters receded Saturday in the hard-hit northwest, an official said. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) |
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| Pakistani flood survivors try to catch food bags from an army helicopter in Lal Pir on August 7, 2010. Pakistan raced to evacuate families threatened with fresh floods, as heavy rains worsened the disaster in its second week, with up to 15 million people already affected. AFP PHOTO/Arif ALI |
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| Pakistani flood survivors wait in line to board a US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter to be evacuated out of Kallam Valley on August 10, 2010. The United States has sent four Chinooks and two Blackhawks to Pakistan, which fly with a representative of the Pakistani military on board. Torrential monsoon rains have lashed Pakistan for two weeks, triggering catastrophic flooding that the UN says has affected 13.8 million people, in a disaster eclipsing the 2004 tsunami that killed 220,000 across Asia. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI |
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| US Army Staff Sargeant Matthew Kingsbury, from Bravo Company 2/3 Aviation, looks down at a flooded area while in flight on board a CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter in Swat Valley on August 10, 2010. The United States has sent four Chinooks and two Blackhawks to Pakistan, which fly with a representative of the Pakistani military on board. Torrential monsoon rains have lashed Pakistan for two weeks, triggering catastrophic flooding that the UN says has affected 13.8 million people, in a disaster eclipsing the 2004 tsunami that killed 220,000 across Asia. |
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| SUKKUR, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 10: Pakistani flood victims get evacuated by the Pakistan Navy on a boat rescue mission as flooding continues at a very high level August 10, 2010 in Sukkur, Pakistan. Pakistan is suffering from the worst flooding in 80 years as the army and aid organizations are struggling to cope with the scope of the widespread disaster, which has killed at least 1,500 people and displaced millions. Meanwhile, Pakistanis have become more frustrated with the government's response and President Asif Ali Zardari's trip to Europe, as Islamic charities step up to gain local grassroots support as they did in the 2005 earthquake. |
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| SUKKUR, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 10: Pakistani flood victim Mohammed Nawaz hangs onto a moving raft as he is rescued by the Pakistan Navy August 10, 2010 in Sukkur, Pakistan. Pakistan is suffering from the worst flooding in 80 years as the army and aid organizations are struggling to cope with the scope of the widespread disaster, which has killed at least 1,500 people and displaced millions. Meanwhile, Pakistanis have become more frustrated with the government's response and President Asif Ali Zardari's trip to Europe, as Islamic charities step up to gain local grassroots support as they did in the 2005 earthquake. |
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| Pakistani villagers chase to relief supplies dropped from an army helicopter in a heavy flood-hit area of Mithan Kot, in central Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. The government has struggled to cope with the scale of the disaster, which has killed at least 1,500 people, prompting the international community to help by donating tens of millions of dollars and providing relief supplies. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) |
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| Pakistani villagers chase to relief supplies dropped from an army helicopter in a heavy flood-hit area of Mithan Kot, in central Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. The government has struggled to cope with the scale of the disaster, which has killed at least 1,500 people, prompting the international community to help by donating tens of millions of dollars and providing relief supplies. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) |
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| MUZAFFARGARH, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 11: Villagers displaced from their homes by flooding travel through flood waters on the back of a truck on August 11, 2010 on the outskirts of Muzaffargarh in Punjab, Pakistan. An estimated 14 million Pakistanis affected by the worst floods in the country's history are bracing for more destruction as monsoon rains further bloat rivers and streams. The rivers Indus and the Chenab are in danger of having their levies broken, which will cause catastrophic flooding across Punjab and Sindh provinces. Deadly flooding across Pakistan has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people and has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. |
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| Crew members of a Pakistani navy helicopter unload relief supplies at a flooded area of Ghaus Pur near Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. Pakistan estimates 13.8 million people are affected by the floods and will need short-term aid or long-term assistance to recover. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) |
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| A villager is rescued by a Pakistani navy helicopter from a flooded area of Ghaus Pur near Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari returned home to a storm of criticism after visiting Europe as his country was gripped by the worst floods in its history. His arrival Tuesday came as thousands of people fled a major city in central Pakistan as rivers threatened to submerge the area. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) |
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| People wait to cross a flooded road in Bannu, northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. Relief work has been hampered by submerged roads, washed out bridges, and downed communication lines, and survivors have complained about government inaction. (AP Photo/Ijaz Mohammad) |
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| MUZAFFARGARH, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 11: Villagers displaced from their homes by flooding sit on their belongings as they are evacuated on August 11, 2010 on the outskirts of Muzaffargarh in Punjab, Pakistan. An estimated 14 million Pakistanis affected by the worst floods in the country's history are bracing for more destruction as monsoon rains further bloat rivers and streams. The rivers Indus and the Chenab are in danger of having their levies broken, which will cause catastrophic flooding across Punjab and Sindh provinces. Deadly flooding across Pakistan has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people and has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) |
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| Pakistani villagers, along with their cattle, wade through a flood water to safe area in Alipur near Sukkar on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. The U.N., relying on Pakistani figures, says the number of people affected by flooding over the past two weeks is 13.8 million _ more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, although the death toll in each of those disasters was much higher than the 1,500 people killed in the floods.(AP Photo/Shakil Adil) |
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| A Pakistani flood affected villager holds his sandals in a muddy street after heavy flooding in Mohib Banda near Nowshera in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari returned Tuesday to a storm of criticism for visiting Europe as his country was gripped by the worst floods in its history that have affected nearly 14 million people. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) |
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| This aerial view from a Pakistan army rescue helicopter shows the flooded area of Kot Addu, in the southern province of Punjab on August 7, 2010. Torrential rains frustrated aid efforts in Pakistan, with some helicopters grounded as authorities battled to help 15 million people affected by the country's worst ever floods. Military rescue workers were rushing to evacuate families in the poor farming belt of Sindh province, where disaster officials were on red alert for a major deluge that could burst the banks of the swollen Indus river. AFP PHOTO/Arif ALI |
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| People affected by the heavy flooding are evacuated in a U. S. Chinook helicopter, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010, in Kalam, Pakistan. U.S. Army choppers carrying emergency food and water buzzed over the swollen river and washed-out bridges, landing in the valley once controlled by the Taliban. They returned laden with grateful Pakistani flood survivors newly won friends in a country where many regard America as the No. 1 enemy. (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash) |
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| A U. S. military Chinook helicopter flies over a flooded area to supply food relief and evacuate stranded flood victims in Kalam, Pakistan on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. U.S. Army choppers carrying emergency food and water buzzed over the swollen river and washed-out bridges, landing in the valley once controlled by the Taliban. They returned laden with grateful Pakistani flood survivors _ newly won friends in a country where many regard America as the No. 1 enemy.(AP Photo/B.K.Bangash) |
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| An aerial view from a Pakistani army rescue helicopter shows flood survivors take refuge on an embankment in the flood-affected area of Ghouspur about 100 km from Sukkur on August 9, 2010. Around 13.8 million people have been affected by massive floods in Pakistan, making the scale of the disaster worse than the devastating 2004 tsunami, a UN official said. AFP PHOTO/ASIF HASSAN |
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| Pakistani flood survivors rush towards an army helicopter as they evacuate the area of Medain, a town of Swat valley on August 2, 2010. Fears are growing about outbreaks of disease among 2.5 million people affected by Pakistan's worst floods in 80 years after monsoon rains killed up to 1,500 people across the northwest. AFP PHOTO/A MAJEED |
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