Massive floods across Pakistan | Thousands Killed

[Moin91]

Allah(SBWT) ka azaab hah bhai. Logoon ko taubah karni chaihah. Lagta hah Allah(SBWT) Swat keh loogon seh naraaz hah. First TTP and now flood. amazing guyz ,amazing. Astaghfarullah..

Baaqi pooray mulk k loog tu doodh k dhulay hain na??? Sirf Swat ki baat kion kar rahay ho bhai??

 

[Chanakyaa]

Good work PAF...

 

[fawwaxs]

PESHAWAR: The death toll from the country’s worst floods in years topped 1,100 on Sunday as outbreaks of water-borne disease emerged and survivors sought refuge from the raging ********.

More than 1,100 people have been killed and over 1.5 million affected by monsoon rains, flash floods and landslides in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and at least another 47 have died in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

“The floods have killed more than 1,100 people in different parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and affected over 1.5 million,” K-P Information Minister Mian Iftikhar said on Sunday. Earlier, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt. General (Retd) Nadeem Ahmed said that approximately 2.5 million people had been displaced in flood-hit areas across the country.

A look at the destruction caused in the worst-hit districts of Charsadda and Nowshera reveals that most of the infrastructure has been destroyed in these areas. There is also anger at the fact that most were caught unawares.

“Why weren’t we informed about the flood if it was to hit us so badly?” fumed Saeed, a resident of Isaar Banda, Charsadda, who was upset that because no relief had reached him for last four days.

In Swat and Shangla alone more than 350 people died in the heavy flooding. Two tourists were killed by floods in the scenic valley of Kalam while in Nowshera 18 more bodies were recovered on Sunday.

The people who have managed to relocate to camps established in government schools, private schools and personal buildings have not yet got over the trauma of the floods and are facing other problems. Pregnant women and those people with heart problems are suffering worst, as there are no beds available in camps, and they have to sleep on the ground.

Affected people have also complained that their needs were being given less importance as compared to VIPs visiting the area. Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Nowshera reportedly caused problems as locals could not escape affected areas due to tight security.

The government has decided to compensate the families of those that have been killed with a sum of Rs300,000.

The initial assessment of economic loss to the province will take 15 to 20 days, said the chief minister. However, he said he thought the loss could run into billions of rupees.

Punjab

Flooding in west Punjab reached critical levels on Sunday, as at least 110 villages and towns were submerged by the flooding in Indus River in Taunsa, Dera Ghazi Khan, rendering over 250,000 people homeless.

Overall, the situation was serious in Mianwalli, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rahim Yar Khan districts. In Rahim Yar Khan. People living in Munchan Bund, Super bund and near the Indus River were told to evacuate the area within 24 hours. Dykes were being constructed in the area as 1.1 million cusecs of water is expected to pass through the riverway on Monday. Mianwali was declared a calamity-hit area, and in Malakwal, on orders of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the Pakistan Army, Rescue 1122 and district administrations have evacuated 140 people to safer locations. Mandi Bahauddin DCO Muhammad Amin Chaudhry said the situation was under control and rescue operations were underway across the district. Sharif gave the district administration of Taunsa 24 hours to provide relief to flood-affected people. The CM also terminated the services of Taunsa’s deputy district officer for not delivering relief to flood victims on time.

Meanwhile at least 172 Chinese engineers and 700 workers were shifted to safer locations from Chashma (Mianwali) as the district was declared a danger zone due to heavy rains.

Sindh

Sindh’s cabinet met on Sunday to review flood arrangements. Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo pointed out that as the Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrages have managed to deal with as much as 1.3 million cusecs in the past, the administration was hoping they would cope with the 900,000 cusecs expected this time around. By Sunday, 52,000 cusecs had entered Sindh and flooding is expected in two to three days. Of greater worry are the canal embankments, which developed multiple breaches over the last six months and are weak in general. Irrigation experts fear that when the canals haven’t been able to withstand normal water flows and have broken down, any kind of flooding will devastate the surrounding areas. Also worrisome are post-flood snakebites, a scenario that has prompted Sindh to give its health department Rs25m for vaccines.

Protective bunds line 1,326 miles of the River Indus and the government has noted that 148 points are weak. The administration has been appealing to people to move to safer ground, but many villagers are adamant about staying put. They argue that government schools cannot accommodate whole villages and in any case, the government does a terrible job of handling displaced people.

Gilgit-Baltistan

Continuous rain along with flooding has inundated dozens of villages in Gilgit-Baltistan, and on Sunday the local administration shifted hundreds of people to relief camps. The Gilgit-Ghizer road has been badly damaged, cutting off the link between the two districts and causing a shortage of food and petrol.

 

[fawwaxs]

capital talk in noshera

Capital Talk - 1st August 2010 Video - Pakistan Videos, News Videos, Politics, Business, Showbiz, Cricket, Pakistan Tube | OnePakistan.com Videos

Nowshera Flood Rescue Efforts
Videos – The Express Tribune

 

[Moin91]

Allah Ta'ala hum sub par apna reham-o-karam farmaye. Aameen.

 

[Moin91]

Disease stalks survivors of Pakistan floods

Monday, 02 Aug, 2010

PESHAWAR: Fears grew Monday about outbreaks of disease among 1.5 million people affected by Pakistan's worst floods in 80 years after monsoon rains killed more than 1,100 people across the northwest.

Unprecedented rains triggered floods and landslides, sweeping away thousands of homes and devastating farmland in one of Pakistan's most impoverished regions, already hard hit by years of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence.

Officials warn that a lack of drinking water is spreading cholera and gastroenteritis, saying they are working to evacuate people from affected areas such as Swat, the scene last summer of a major offensive against the Taliban.

“We estimate that about 100,000 people, mostly children, have been hit by cholera and gastro diseases,” said Syed Zahir Ali Shah, the health minister for the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Our priority is to first evacuate them to safe areas and then provide them with medical treatment.

“In cut-off areas and parts of Swat we have sent medical teams by helicopter,” he told AFP.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon pledged aid of up to 10 million dollars to meet the humanitarian needs of those affected by the crisis, saying he was “deeply saddened” by the floods.

The US government announced a 10-million-dollar aid pledge and has rushed helicopters and boats to Pakistan. China has also promised 1.5 million dollars, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Anwer Kazmi, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, said at least 1,256 people had been killed and that Swat was the worst affected district with 475 deaths.

“Food and shelter are the most critical needs of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people... the situation is seriously affecting the health of children and women in particular,” he told AFP.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said earlier that the floods had killed more than 1,100 people and affected over 1.5 million in the province, but had warned the death toll could rise further.

“We are also getting confirmation of reports about an outbreak of cholera in some areas of Swat,” he said.

Pakistan's meteorological department forecast downpours of up to 200 millimetres in the next two weeks across the northwest, Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the central province of Punjab and Sindh in the south.

Television footage and photographs have shown people clinging to the walls and rooftops of damaged houses as water rushed through villages.

Hundreds of survivors have sought shelter in schools in Peshawar and Muzaffarabad, many having escaped the floods with children on their backs.

“My family is sheltering in a school, but no clean drinking water, food or medicine has been given to us,” Fahimud Din, 27, from the Charsadda neighbourhood of Peshawar, told AFP.

“My son is suffering from cholera, but there is no doctor,” he said.

He joined scores of flood victims who demonstrated for a second day, protesting against the sluggish relief effort in Peshawar.

The crowd shouted “give us aid sent by foreign countries” and “death to the corrupt government.”

Pakistan's military and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) have been coordinating the relief effort, saying they have rescued more than 28,000 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by helicopter and boat.

The NDMA said nearly 30,000 homes had been damaged across the country.

In Pakistani-administered Kashmir, flooding and landslides killed 53 people, said Mehmood Khan, the head of the local Disaster Management Authority.

Riaz Khawaja, a television cameraman, who walked to Muzaffarabad over four days from Neelum valley spoke of scenes of devastation.

“There is destruction everywhere along the way and severe food shortages have hit the Neelam valley,” Khawaja told AFP.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Disease stalks survivors of Pakistan floods

 

[GUNNER]

GENEVA, Aug 2, 2010 (AFP) - The international Red Cross said Monday that up to 2.5 million people across Pakistan have been affected by heavy flooding brought on by torrential monsoon rains.

"According to official sources, flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains has killed more than 1,100 people in Pakistan and affected up to 2.5 million people across the country in the past week," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

"In the worst-affected areas, entire villages were washed away without warning by walls of flood water," it said in a statement, noting that thousands of people "have lost everything."

 

[RescueRanger]

WFP distributes food among flood affectees in KP

Monday, August 02, 2010
Our correspondent

Islamabad

The World Food Programme on Sunday started food distributions to 35,000 families hit by catastrophic flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has also affected parts of neighbouring Afghanistan.

Distributions of emergency food supplies to 3,000 families began in three of the worst affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda — with the assistance of WFP’s strong network of NGO partners in the region. The recent monsoon rains are reported to be the heaviest in living memory.

“We are deeply saddened to hear that so many people, who have already suffered terribly in recent years are now seeing their lives washed away,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran from the organisation’s Rome headquarters.

WFP distributes food among flood affectees in KP

 

[RescueRanger]

Super flood and govt response: lessons from the past


Monday, August 02, 2010
By Tahir Hasan Khan

Karachi

A Karachi-based Urdu daily was banned in 1973 for publishing a headline story: “Faisalabad doob gaya, Larkana bacha liya gaya” (Faisalabad drowned, Larkana saved). The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had assumed power two years before, and the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the prime minister when the country was faced with the flood situation. The ban on the newspaper was lifted within a couple of days, but that story left a negative image and damaged the reputation of the PPP and late ZA Bhutto.

This was the first major criticism against late ZA Bhutto although the elected government had taken measures for the protection of the people without any discrimination. It was the then PPP finance minister Dr Mubashir Hasan who had planned a comprehensive strategy to handle the situation.

The country had suffered huge financial losses in that natural disaster. PPP workers were the main force in relief work and they helped out the government. It was the political will of the party and its leadership, as ZA Bhutto himself visited each and every affected area to monitor the relief work and boost the moral of the people.

Rail and road communication was destroyed from Karachi to Lahore, and air link was the only option for transportation between Sindh and the rest of the country, and this situation badly hampered the relief work. Floods had swept away the railway tracks and National Highway and this communication was restored after a month. This was the PPP leadership that mobilized the workers in Sindh for providing relief and shifting the people from flood-affected areas to safer places.

Now the country is again in the grip of similar flood situation. People of Punjab, Kashmir and Khaiber-Pakhtoonkhwa have been undergoing worst situation, as hundreds of people have lost their lives while millions have been rendered homeless. Hundreds of houses and other installations have been swept away in floodwater and the United Nations also admitted that it was the worst flood in the history of Pakistan, as the floods have affected over one million people who have no food, drinking water and medicines.

Flood Forecasting Division sent a warning to Sindh that the flood was moving towards the province and it would enter Sindh by Tuesday or Wednesday. The authorities in Sindh have been expecting flow of 1.1 to 1.2 million cusecs of water into the river. In 1973, more than 0.9 million cusecs flood water had entered Sindh and it took three days to fall into the sea. But more than a dozen of districts were badly affected, causing suffering to millions of people. Irrigation experts and authorities are scared with the approaching flood situation as the capacity of the barrages at present is not more than 0.9 million cusecs, while they were apprehending 0.2 to 0.3 million more cusecs to pass through the province. This situation is very dangerous and authorities are calling it as “Supper flood”.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has taken the matter seriously and he not only visited the vulnerable areas but also summoned emergency meeting of the cabinet to brief his colleagues about the sensitivity of the situation.

The authorities concerned informed the cabinet that the duration of the flood could be more than seven days, and that they were apprehending a massive disaster this time around. Though the government has decided to call the Army for relief and rescue operation and ordered the Rangers and police to remain alert, district administration has also been directed to remain alert and arrange heavy equipment, tractors and manpower for protecting the embankments and link canals. Ministers and elected representatives have been asked to visit their respective areas to monitor the relief and rescue operation. Hospitals have been directed to be ready and arrange medicines for affected areas. Schools and other government buildings have been vacated for providing shelter to the affected people.

All these measures were taken by the first PPP government, but the government machinery alone is not enough to handle the situation. A lot will depend on good management by the government functionaries but there is a need to involve not only the workers of PPP but also of allied parties for relief and rescue operation.

One factor must remain in the mind that only good governance will help them handle this situation. It should also be remembered that during the earthquake few years ago, the then military government had failed in providing relief to the affected people.

This led to extremist organisations taking advantage of the situation, as they mingled with the masses through relief work and managed to strengthen their position. This is an elected and democratic government and the rulers need to prove their sincerity in providing relief and protecting the people or else the extremist elements will exploit this situation and the people will be justified in thinking that there is no difference between the democratic and non-democratic setup.

There is a general opinion that flood and rain is a natural phenomenon but western countries handle it with proper management and planning. But unfortunately in Pakistan, neither the government functionaries nor the political leadership take serious steps to deal with natural disasters. Neither the people nor the officials have been trained to tackle such situation and even the required machinery and equipment was also not available to deal with natural disasters.

This is the time for the democratic setup to remove this negative impression and take some extra-ordinary steps with political will to protect the people from the approaching super flood.

khan.tahirhkhan@gmail.com
Super flood and govt response: lessons from the past

 

[RescueRanger]

Please think of all these:

And dig deep in your pockets and donate towards the relief effort.

Thank you

 

[Ahmad]

what has the international community done so far? I only know about the US donating £6.4m plus helicopters/boats, but dont know about the others. in the last disaster(earthquake) the governments as well as ordinary people especially europe donated alot of money, hope they do the same this time as people are really desparate.

 

[RescueRanger]

what has the international community done so far? I only know about the US donating £6.4m plus helicopters/boats, but dont know about the others. in the last disaster(earthquake) the governments as well as ordinary people especially europe donated alot of money, hope they do the same this time as people are really desparate.

The US and UN are both donating $10 Million. The EU is donating $30 Million and the people of Pakistan along with NGOs are doing all they can.

Here is the offical Sit Rep from Sunday:

FLOODS – 2010
(01 AUGUST EVENING)​

1. Heavy rains during night 21/22 July affected Kohlu, Barkhan, Sibi and Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan, additionally; damages have also been reported in District Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur in Punjab. In recent spell of rains districts of Peshawar, Swat, Nowshera, Dir Lower, Charsada in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Upper Neelam Valley in AJ&K have been badly affected.

2.Summary of Losse
Punjab Balochistan KPK AJ&K GB TOTAL
a.Dead 47 19 767 32 6 871
b.Injured 108 353 51 - 512
c.Houses Damaged 7587 3900 16461 476 1105 29529

d.KKH at different places, road Garhi Habibullah-Muzaffarabad and rd Muzaffarabad-Chakothi blocked.

e.D.I.Khan Airport has been inundated by flood water.

3. Relief Activities – Balochistan

a.NDMA has so far delivered 2400 tents, 4800 plastic mats, 800 blankets and 4 Generator Sets.

b.UNHCR and UNICEF have been requested to provide 2300 Non-Food Item kits and 4000 Hygiene Kits, respectively.

c.PRCS is catering for the food / healthcare requirements of population of villages of Talli and Sultankot for next 3 months.

d. 1300 troops (including 4 medical teams) and 4 helicopters from Southern Command actively participated in the relief operation.

4. Relief Activities – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

a.Rescue Efforts
(1) Helicopters Operating - 30 (20 x Army,2 x SPD, 4 x PAF, 4 x Ministry of Interior)
(2)Boats Operating - 150 (Excluding locally arranged boats)
(3)Zulo Boats (Navy) - 18
(4)Total individuals Rescued - 28000 (+)

b.2 x Helicopters are being utilized for the evacuation of stranded Chinese in Dubair / Pattan (District Kohistan).

c.1x Medevac helicopter flew its missions for Charsadda and Nowshera for seriously ill patients.

d.2x Reserve Bridges of Army have been moved to Malakand in order to restore road communication.

e.Distribution of 4950 Mixed Ration Packs amongst the affected population by Provincial Govt. Army has provided 62000 food packets to the flood affectees.

f.7600 Tents, 4500 Sand Bags, 15000 Ration Packs, 5000 Blankets, 5000 Plastic Mats and 3000 Jackets have been released for the affectees.

g.Motorway M-1and GT road have been restored for traffic.

h.Efforts are in hand to open banks in affected areas. Banks are also being pursued to mov mobile cash vans under Army escort in the affected areas.

i.Relief efforts for the distress calls at the information centre are being responded through Headquarters 11 Corps.

j.US Government is providing emergent food support (380,000 Meals Ready to Eat), 4 x Zodiac boats and 2 x water purification plants. First consignment (containing 30,000 Food Packets) of these stores reached Rawalpindi on night 31 July 10 and are being further despatched to Risalpur, Mianwali and Muzaffarabad (AJ& K). On Ist August another 70,000 food packet will reach Peshawar.

5. Relief Activities – Punjab
a.1900 troops along with 107 boats have been employed in different areas for relief activities. More troops are being moved to the affected areas; whereas in different areas Pakistan Army is on high alert to deal with any flood situation.

b. 5 x Helicopters (2 from Army, 2 from Pakistan Air Force and 1 from Punjab government) are operating for relief activities.
c. Embankment of Jinnah Barrage was breached (4x Breaches) to release pressure at the head works.

d. NDMA has released 1700 tents and 400 plastic mats for District Bhakkar, Mianwali and DG Khan.

e. PDMA Punjab has provided 24 truck load of food items to Mianwali.

f. Rs 5 Million has been allocated for relief work by provincial government.

g. PDMA Punjab has established 71 relief camps to support the flood affected population.

h. Chairman NDMA has visited the flood affected areas of Punjab.

i. On request of Punjab government, NDMA has coordinated release of Emergency Medical and Cholera kits from WHO.

j. In order to reduce the human losses, in District Liah 88 villages have been evacuated whereas 60% evacuation work has been completed in District Rajanpur.

k. 14 x Naval Boats will be placed at Sukkar after 3 Aug to deal any flood situation developing in Punjab / Sind. Additionally, Pakistan Navy has also been requested to place available Sea King Helicopters on standby at Karachi to deal with any emergency flood situation.

6. Relief Activities - AJ & K

a. NDMA has released 1000 Tents, 2000 Plastic Mats, 6000 food packets, 4000 Blankets and 2 generators to SDMA Muzaffarabad.

b. 550 x families were rescued to safe areas.

c. 600 families are being provided food since 30 July.

d. 2 x teams of SDMA have been detailed for relief, rescue and assessment task.

e. Army is providing all possible assistance to the civil administration in handling the situation.

f. 2x Helicopters of Anti Narcotics Force have been earmarked for relief activities in AJ&K.

7. PAF carried out 9x Sorties of C-130 aircraft as under:-
a. 4x rescue missions, evacuating 511 individuals (including 17x Foreigners) from Gilgit /Skardu)

b. 2 x missions to Risalpur to deliver approx 27000 Meals Ready to Eat.

c. 1x mission each to Peshawar and Risalpur to deliver relief goods.

d. 1x Recce mission to Swat.

e. 3 x dead bodies of Air Blue crash and 25 x passengers were moved to Gilgit.

 

[Ahmad]

You can see the minute by minute update on Pakistan flood in the guardian website:

Pakistan floods - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[GUNNER]

what has the international community done so far? I only know about the US donating £6.4m plus helicopters/boats, but dont know about the others. in the last disaster(earthquake) the governments as well as ordinary people especially europe donated alot of money, hope they do the same this time as people are really desparate.

UK Announces 5 million Aid

The British Government has pledged £5 million to help hundreds of thousands of those left homeless by Pakistan's flood disaster.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said at least 800,000 people would benefit from the new UK aid, which will go towards providing safe drinking water, hygiene kits and toilets.

The British aid, which is being channelled through the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), will buy around 136,000 hygiene kits, 4,560 toilets, 336,000 bars of sanitising soap, 270,000 buckets, 400,000 water purification kits and 800,000 water purification tablets.

The UK's Department for International Development has already contributed another £5 million to the UN-run Pakistan Emergency Response Fund.

This will pay for food, shelter, water, sanitation and healthcare for thousands of people affected by the floods.

-------------------------------------------------


Appeal to help Pakistan flood victims

An appeal to raise £2m to help the victims of flooding in Pakistan has been launched.

Birmingham-based Islamic Relief Worldwide has started a £2m appeal to provide assistance to survivors who need clean water, food and shelter.

The charity has a large warehouse in east Birmingham where goods and clothing are sent.

However, spokesman Moustafa Osman said it is cash that is needed.

"The first part of the appeal is to help people with life-saving items - tents, blankets, bed sheets, water purification tablets and all they need to save their lives," he said.

After that, the money will go to clearing away mud and landslide debris, he added.

 

[RescueRanger]

You can see the minute by minute update on Pakistan flood in the guardian website:

Pakistan floods - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk

Thank Ahmad, but if you want to monitor the situation Real Time this is a far better site:

Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System

Regards