Pakistan Flooding

[Posting a link?]

Forum Guidelines
Posting a link? Read This!

Forgot your password? Need help?
Click Here To Contact Us

Mudflats Merchandise
AKMuckraker Amazon Store
Support AKM Merchandise

Download it here!

[Sirenoftitan]

Concerns are growing for survivors of flooding in north-west Pakistan after the heaviest rains in a generation killed at least 1,100 people.

There are reports of diarrhoea and cholera among the hundreds of thousands left homeless, and food and drinking water are in short supply.

Pakistan's military is helping with the rescue effort, and the US has announced $10m (£6.4m) in emergency aid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10834414

<snip>
But while Washington provided rescue boats, water filtration units and prefabricated steel bridges, its initiative faced competition on the ground from aid groups with alleged links to Islamist militants.

As Pakistani troops in helicopters dropped thousands of US-sponsored packaged meals to flood victims, food and medical services were also being offered in some of the hardest-hit areas by representatives from a charity allegedly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/01/pakistan-floods-death-toll-rises

[Aeroentropy]

This whole situation sounds dreadful!   

[boodog]

"The walls of the houses are made of mud, so more than 70% of the houses in the area have already been destroyed.
"The people are staying on the rooftops now but the supporting walls are also weak and damaged, but they have nowhere else to go because everywhere there is mud and water.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/threecounties/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8877000/8877248.stm

There is a link to World Vision in the article, in case you'd like to donate to the relief effort.

[Forty Watt]

It is awful.

Up to 2.5 million people have been affected by devastating floods in north-west Pakistan, the International Red Cross has said.

Rescuers are struggling to reach 27,000 people still cut off by the floods, which are the worst in 80 years.

At least 1,100 people have died and thousands have lost everything.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10834414

[Sirenoftitan]

It's getting worse. 

The worst monsoon rains in 80 years are continuing to sweep from the north-west to south and central Pakistan.

Rivers in Sindh province, home to Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and business hub, are bursting their banks.

Pakistani authorities have evacuated 500,000 people in 11 districts of Sindh and issued warnings to people in low-lying areas of the Indus river.

Flooding has submerged whole villages in the past week, killing about 1,600 people and affecting another 4.5m.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10889925

[futurexpat?]

This really is awful. And this is the kind of thing that is probably related to global warming, giving us a glimpse of a not-so-pretty picture of the future.

[Sirenoftitan]

Pakistani authorities evacuated people living alongside expanding rivers today as forecasts predicted further heavy rain that could worsen the country's flood crisis.

Officials estimate that as many as 13 million people have been affected by the worst flooding in the country's 63-year history. About 1,500 people have died, most of them in the north-west, the hardest-hit region.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/08/pakistan-monsoon-rains-worsen-flood-crisis

Pakistan's meteorological office has warned that at least two more days of rain are expected in Sindh, where authorities have declared an "imminent" and "extreme" flood threat.

Further downpours are also forecast in the badly-hit north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool says places where floodwaters had receded are now submerged again, and roads that were opened are now closed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10904903

[judi]

I just finished reading EAARTH in which he clearly predicts things like this...now almost on a daily basis we are hearing of flash flooding...tenn, ark, France, and now Pakistan

just read over 1500 people dead in Pakistan from this flood...and it may rise as the waters continue...

time to get mad...and then busy...

our earth is changing...we must have policies on national and world levels..and we must work locally...no more time to wait...we are witnessing the change...and we are the ones that must take action  350 org is a good place to start

[Sirenoftitan]

Waters have exceeded the danger level at a key flood barrier in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

The Sukkur Barrage flooding means Sindh faces as much devastation as that seen further north in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, say experts.

Enraged survivors have been physically attacking government officials in flood-hit areas, amid widespread anger at the pace of the relief effort.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10910778

[Sirenoftitan]

The UN has launched an appeal for $459m (£290m) to help victims of Pakistan's flood disaster, which has affected at least 14 million people.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes made the announcement at the organisation's headquarters in New York, saying the aid would cover the next 90 days.

The disaster was "one of the most challenging that any country has faced in recent years", Mr Holmes said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10943606

[futurexpat?]

The fasting month of Ramadan began yesterday in sorrow for 14 million Pakistanis, as one fifth of the nation is underwater from the worst monsoon-related floods in living memory.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/08/12/one-fifth-of-pakistan-is-under-water/

(My bold)

And a lot of other natural disasters are taking place, almost certainly related to global warming.

[Sirenoftitan]

The Pakistani military have a track record when it comes to "intervention".

Pakistan's government faces the threat of social unrest or even military takeover after its shambolic response to the floods that have devastated the country, leaving 1,600 people dead and 2 million homeless, say analysts.

Fears that Asif Ali Zardari, the president, could be overthrown – possibly through an intervention by the army – have grown as the government's failure to adequately tackle the crisis has fuelled long-held grievances.

Pakistan flood response prompts rising anti-government resentment by Saeed Shah, The Guardian

Health workers are stepping up their battle against waterborne diseases in flood-hit Pakistan, as the UN confirms a case of cholera for the first time.

The UN said it would start widespread treatment of the deadly disease.

Pakistan has cancelled official celebrations of its Independence Day on Saturday, as officials try to co-ordinate relief efforts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10973725

[Forty Watt]

UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon: Pakistan Floods Are Worst Disaster I've Ever Seen

20 million people have now been affected.  It's almost too much to process.

Ban's comments reflect the concern of the international community about the unfolding disaster in Pakistan, which is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants, has a weak and unpopular government, and an anemic economy propped up by international assistance.

"This has been a heart-wrenching day for me," Ban said after flying over the hard-hit areas with President Asif Ali Zardari. "I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this."

Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed in relief and now there is cholera.

One case of cholera was confirmed in Mingora, the main town in the northwest's Swat Valley, U.N. spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said Saturday. But other cases were suspected, and aid workers are now responding to all those exhibiting acute watery diarrhea as if it is cholera...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/14/cholera-confirmed-in-paki_n_682199.html

[Sirenoftitan]

<snip>
The floodwaters are now at the town of Larkana, in Sindh, threatening the nearby Bhutto family mausoleum, a huge marble structure topped with domes. Also at risk is the sprawling Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus valley civilisation, a Unesco world heritage site built around 2,500BC.

Rediscovered in 1922, Mohenjo-daro was one of the most sophisticated cities of its time. The water is closing in from the river Indus and from a breach in an irrigation canal further north.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/15/pakistan-floods-ban-ki-moon-response

Up to 3.5m children are at high risk from deadly water-borne diseases in Pakistan following the country's floods, a UN spokesman has said.

In southern Pakistan, floodwaters continue to cause havoc with floods surging from the province of Sindh to neighbouring Balochistan.  This has led to more people fleeing their homes.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has left Pakistan after saying the floods were the worst disaster he had seen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10984477

[Sirenoftitan]

The World Bank is to loan $900m (£574m) to Pakistan to help it recover from its worst ever flooding.  The devastating floods have affected up to 20 million people and left some 2,000 dead, say officials.  But the UN says international aid has been slow and that it has raised only a third of the $460m (£294m) needed for emergency relief.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain said it could take five years and $15bn (£9.6bn) for the country to recover.  The World Bank funds will come through the reprogramming of planned projects and the reallocation of money, a World Bank spokesman said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10994989

[Sirenoftitan]

The United Nations general secretary, Ban Ki-moon, has appealed for swifter aid to provide immediate relief in food, shelter and clean water for the millions affected by the worst monsoon rains on record.

"Make no mistake, this is a global disaster," Ban told a hurriedly convened session of the UN general assembly. "Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami. Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time," he warned.

Weather forecasts have said there could be four more weeks of rain, which will add to the flood problems.

Pakistan floods are a 'slow-motion tsunami' - Ban Ki-moon by Andrew Clark and Allegra Stratton, The Guardian

[Jaime from Wasilla]

I haven't seen anyone say out loud what seems painfully obvious to me - the reason the donations of aid to Pakistan are so slow world wide is because the poor people who are suffering the most in the northern part of the afflicted area are the same people who have been giving safe harbor to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the Taliban. If Bin Laden were captured, or found to be dead from the flooding, the aid would flow quickly, but until then, the attitude of most of humanity is decidedly not compassionate. 

Everybody is thinking it, but nobody is saying it.  Since I am a seasoned iconoclast, I have no trouble saying what everyone else is too polite to say - the humanitarian heart of humanity has a racist, revenge filled core. The people of Pakistan have tried to play both sides, and now are reaping the consequences.

Perhaps it is true that aid from the west would prevent further recruits of terrorists and Taliban religious extremists. The only thing that seems certain is that a stable Pakistan is crucial for the whole region.

[boodog]

I've noticed this too, Jaime. Of course no one wants to say it- Pakistan has an iffy government and we are at war in the neighborhood.  I think there might also be some donor-fatigue after Haiti and Chile.
According to World Vision $255,000 has been raised in about two weeks. With the Haiti disaster, at the two-week mark, 19.5 million had been raised.

The slow pace of donations is likely due to a number of factors: the recession; the nature of the disaster (floods and slow-building disasters are harder to raise money for); initial scant media coverage; people not realizing the extent of the damage; and Americans' mixed feelings about Pakistan.

According to World Vision records, there are many factors motivating donors, but I have to imagine that Pakistan's stand with terrorists is definitely in people's minds.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012673702_pakistanaid20m.html

http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/ibeCZzpHome.jsp?minisite=10041&respid=22372&grp=STORE

[Forty Watt]

Aid boost for Pakistan

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has welcomed new pledges of more than $200m to help the 20 million affected by devastating floods in Pakistan...

Last week, OCHA launched an emergency appeal for $460 million for Pakistan and on Friday it said 55 percent of the requested funds had been received.

[Fresh Tracks]

Bin Laden has reportedly been hidden in the caves of the highlands by militants.  The flooding is affecting the poor folks living close to the land in the river valleys.