Six million affected, hundreds killed in Pakistan floods

[News_Editor]

Six million affected, hundreds killed in Pakistan floods

2011-09-19 10:08:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

ISLAMABAD (BNO NEWS) -- Recent floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in southern Pakistan have killed almost 300 people and affected six million others, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Saturday.

Recent floods in Sindh province have caused damage to an area of 7.9 million acres (3.2 million hectares), destroying many crops. According to NDMA, all 23 districts of Sindh have been affected by the floods, including about 31,960 villages.

More than 80,000 livestock have been washed away by flood waters while crops like cotton, banana, dates, chilli and sugarcane on 2.8 million (1.1 million hectares) acres have been destroyed or affected. The floods have also fully damaged 539,899 houses while another 848,412 houses have suffered partial damage, according to the latest reports.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have appealed to the international community to provide humanitarian assistance for the millions of people affected by this year's floods. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also formally called on the international community to assist the Pakistani government.

China announced that it will supply relief goods worth $4.5 million, while Iran announced $100 million aid for the rehabilitation of the rain-affected people of Sindh. Other countries that have offered emergency assistance include Japan, South Korea, and Germany, according to Ary News.

The European Commission announced that 10 million euros ($13.7 million) would be provided in emergency relief. In addition, the United States is sending food aid for nearly 350,000 and medical assistance for about 500,000 people.

In early August, torrential rains also wrecked havoc in many parts of Sindh province, killing at least 18 people and leaving dozens more injured. Some areas saw the worst rainfall since at least 1936.

And in late July 2010, above-average heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions killed approximately 2,000 people and affected around 20 million others as floods covered about a fifth of the country. Torrential rains overflooded rivers, which went cascading across the country from the mountainous north, inundating successive regions until they reached the sea. It was the country's worst flooding in modern history.

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