Pakistani Floods: Worse Disaster Yet to Unfold

Facing the worst natural disaster in more than 80 years, nearly 20 million Pakistani people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid. And even though organizations and government are stepping up to help, experts say the full extent of the catastrophe is yet to unfold.

One-tenth of the Pakistani population is now suffering from the huge floods. At least 1,500 people have died in the catastrophe. Millions have lost their worldly belongings and livelihoods. At least 288,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Many key roads and major bridges are impassable or under threat. Some districts remain accessible only by water or air transport. There is a rising number of people complaining of acute diarrhea and other water-borne diseases.

The situation looks to only get worse. Pakistan now faces the greatest caseload of refugees in the world as well as internally displaced persons. Nearly 20 days after the initial floods, damages are still to be assessed.

The disaster is “far from over” and the situation is “unprecedented,” the United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in television appearance on Sunday.

“The death toll has so far been relatively low compared to other major natural disasters, but the numbers affected are extraordinarily high. If we don't act fast enough, many more people could die of diseases and food shortages,” warned John Holmes, United Nations undersecretary general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in a statement.

SURVIVOR: A young Pakistani flood survivor at the Sultan Colony refugee camp near the city of Multan on Aug. 15. (Evan Schneider/United Nations via Getty Images )

Holmes added that the floods have devastated large parts of Pakistan from north to south.

“Make no mistake. This is a major catastrophe. The emergency is still evolving, with continued rainfall, more areas at high risk of flooding, and hundreds of thousands of people on the move.”

At a press briefing in Geneva on Aug. 13 Adrien Edwards of the U.N. Refugee Agency UNHCR pointed out that the crisis facing Pakistan was not only enormous, but also still unfolding.

“There continued to be massive destruction as the bloated rivers flowed southward across the plains, and the crisis in UNHCR’s view would not be over when the flooding receded due to homelessness, hunger, and illness.”

According to the U.N. assessment, the number of people suffering from the flooding exceeds the number of those affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake combined.

Among other factors, the weather is expected to intensify the severity to the disaster.

“The bad news is the weather,” Mark Ward, acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development's office of foreign disaster assistance said for the media. “We're going to have a challenge in the weeks and, frankly, months ahead.”

Humanitarian Response

Last week, the U.N. made an appeal for $459 million in humanitarian relief for Pakistan of which $93 million has been raised and there are pledges for another $32 million.

To meet basic needs, $105 million is required for tents, plastic sheeting, and essential household goods for over 2 million people. Nearly $56.2 million is needed for emergency health care, covering up to 20 million people, while $14.2 million is necessary to ensure proper nutrition for children under 5, and for pregnant or lactating women who are considered the most vulnerable. Medication has already been provided for prevention and treatment of several diseases.

Numerous aid organizations have summoned efforts in Pakistan to help relieve sufferings of local population and assist with food, shelter, hygiene, and health protection necessities.

Jacques de Maio, chief of Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in South Asia, said at Friday’s U.N. press briefing that it is absolutely vital to upgrade the operations based on the increasing scope of the emergency. The Pakistan Red Crescent Society says it mobilized its countrywide network of more than 100,000 volunteers and working together with other Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from other countries were able to assist 100,000 people in the first week of flooding.

The Pakistani flood affected family eats charity food at a tent in Sukkur on August 14. Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said 20 million people had been affected by the worst floods in the country's history. (Aamir Querhi/Getty Images )

The World Food Program (WFP) had reached 430,000 people with a one-month food ration, said Emilia Casella, representative at the Geneva forum. WFP plans to reach 2 million people by Aug. 20 with the help of helicopters.

WFP says it has enough food stocks in country to provide a one-month ration for up to 6 million people, but the logistics are of great concern.

World Health Organization (WHO) expert Fadela Chaib announced that the WHO has received daily disease outbreak information from 56 out of 74 flood-affected regions in Pakistan. So far the organization has provided 140,000 consultations, out of which, 15 people were seeking care for acute watery diarrhea. In the Punjab, WHO has 1,900 health facilities operating in the area, including 1,000 mobile clinics.

The European Commission extended $38.3 million on July 30, and augmented that by a further $12.7 million to further assist Pakistan’s most vulnerable.