Flood-hit Pakistan braces for more rains
Source: Agencies |
August 7, 2010, Saturday
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HEAVY rains are expected in areas of Pakistan already hit by the worst floods in 80 years, the meteorological department said yesterday, raising the possibility of more destruction.
"We're forecasting widespread rains in the country, especially in flood-affected areas," Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, director general of the department, said.
The floods have swallowed up entire villages, killed over 1,600 and devastated the lives of more than 12 million people.
The floods have also inundated crop-producing areas, dealing a crippling blow to the agrarian-based economy and threatening a food crisis.
Floods are expected to inflict heavy suffering in southern Sindh Province after roaring down from the northwest and through the agricultural heartland of Punjab Province.
Authorities have evacuated more than half a million people in Sindh.
"Monsoon rains continue to fall and at least 11 districts are at risk of flooding in Sindh, where more than 500,000 people have been relocated to safer places and evacuation is still on based on the Meteorological Department's alerts," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
While authorities have conducted evacuations, they are struggling with relief efforts. Food supplies are becoming serious issues in some areas and conditions are ripe for disease.
Stormy weather grounded helicopters carrying emergency supplies to Pakistan's flood-ravaged northwest yesterday.
US military personnel waiting to fly Chinooks to stranded communities in the upper reaches of the hard-hit Swat Valley were frustrated by the storms, which dumped more rain on a region where many thousands are living in tents or crammed into public buildings.
Some 30,000 Pakistani soldiers are rebuilding bridges, delivering food and setting up relief camps in the northwest, which is the main battleground in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Foreign countries and the United Nations have donated millions of dollars.
"We're forecasting widespread rains in the country, especially in flood-affected areas," Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, director general of the department, said.
The floods have swallowed up entire villages, killed over 1,600 and devastated the lives of more than 12 million people.
The floods have also inundated crop-producing areas, dealing a crippling blow to the agrarian-based economy and threatening a food crisis.
Floods are expected to inflict heavy suffering in southern Sindh Province after roaring down from the northwest and through the agricultural heartland of Punjab Province.
Authorities have evacuated more than half a million people in Sindh.
"Monsoon rains continue to fall and at least 11 districts are at risk of flooding in Sindh, where more than 500,000 people have been relocated to safer places and evacuation is still on based on the Meteorological Department's alerts," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
While authorities have conducted evacuations, they are struggling with relief efforts. Food supplies are becoming serious issues in some areas and conditions are ripe for disease.
Stormy weather grounded helicopters carrying emergency supplies to Pakistan's flood-ravaged northwest yesterday.
US military personnel waiting to fly Chinooks to stranded communities in the upper reaches of the hard-hit Swat Valley were frustrated by the storms, which dumped more rain on a region where many thousands are living in tents or crammed into public buildings.
Some 30,000 Pakistani soldiers are rebuilding bridges, delivering food and setting up relief camps in the northwest, which is the main battleground in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Foreign countries and the United Nations have donated millions of dollars.
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