PAKSITAN's FLOOD IS WORSE THAN HAITI's TSUNAMI
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The number of people suffering from the massive floods in Pakistan exceeds 13 million — more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United Nations said yesterday.The death toll in each of those three disasters was much higher than the 1,600 people killed so far in the floods that first hit Pakistan two weeks ago.
Thousands of people have fled a major city in central Pakistan as authorities warned that swollen rivers could soon submerge the area, making them victims of the worst natural disaster in the nation's history.- The UN, relying on Pakistani figures, said the disaster has affected almost 14 million people, eclipsing the scale of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, as the deadly floodwaters sweep south and rescuers battle to bring aid to survivors.
- Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said yesterday that the floods were a bigger crisis than the 2005 Kashmir earthquake that killed nearly 80,000 people and the army's operation against the Taliban in the Swat Valley last spring that drove more than two million people from their homes.
- "The magnitude of the tragedy is so immense that it is hard to assess," said Gilani during a visit to the central Pakistani city of Multan.
- Many of the people affected by the floods, which were caused by extremely heavy monsoon rains, were located in Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rescue workers have been unable to reach up to 600,000 people marooned in the province's Swat Valley, where many residents were still trying to recover from last year's fight with the Taliban, said Giuliano.Bad weather has prevented helicopters from flying to the area, which is inaccessible by ground, he said.
AT LEAST 267 KILL IN PAKISTAN FLOODS
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Poor weather this week also may have been a factor in Wednesday's Airblue plane crash that killed 313 people in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
On the same token, flood had also contributed to the disaster faced by Pakistan. The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 267 on Friday, rescue and government officials said, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.
Southwest Baluchistan province has also been hit hard by the recent rains. Last week, flash floods in that region killed at least 41 people and swept away thousands of homes. The UN statement Thursday said 150,000 people were affected there.
The U.N. said Punjab province in Pakistan's east was also hit by some flooding. Crops were soaked in farmlands throughout the country. The U.N. said the humanitarian community was trying to put together a proper response, but the rains were making many roads impassable, complicating efforts to assess needs.
Source: AP
On the same token, flood had also contributed to the disaster faced by Pakistan. The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 267 on Friday, rescue and government officials said, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.
- The rising toll of the monsoon rains underscore the poor infrastructure in impoverished Pakistan, where under-equipped rescue workers were struggling to reach people stranded in far-flung villages.
- Pakistani TV showed striking images of people clinging to fences and other stationary items as water at times gushed over their heads.
- The northwest appeared to be the hardest hit, and Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the province, said it was the worst flooding in the region since 1929.
- At least 245 people died in various parts of that province over the last three days, said Mujahid Khan of the Edhi Foundation, a privately run rescue service that operates morgues and ambulances across the South Asian country.
- In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, at least 22 people had been confirmed dead as of Thursday evening, the area's prime minister, Sardar Attique Khan, told reporters.
- The tolls from the deluge were expected to rise because many people were still missing.
- In the Swat Valley, residents were forced to trudge through knee-deep water in some streets.
- A newly constructed part of a dam in the Charsadda district collapsed, while the U.N. said it had reports that 5,000 homes were underwater in that area. Hussain estimated 400,000 people were stranded in various northwest villages.
- "A rescue operation using helicopters cannot be conducted due to the bad weather, while there are only 48 rescue boats available for rescue," he said on Thursday.
- Pakistan's poorest residents are often the ones living in flood-prone areas because they can't afford safer land.
Southwest Baluchistan province has also been hit hard by the recent rains. Last week, flash floods in that region killed at least 41 people and swept away thousands of homes. The UN statement Thursday said 150,000 people were affected there.The U.N. said Punjab province in Pakistan's east was also hit by some flooding. Crops were soaked in farmlands throughout the country. The U.N. said the humanitarian community was trying to put together a proper response, but the rains were making many roads impassable, complicating efforts to assess needs.
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