No relief as monsoons threaten region
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is assessing the immediate needs of communities in Northern Pakistan following some of the worst flooding in the area in 80 years, the agency reported.
Some of the most urgently needed relief aid in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province includes shelters for displaced families, hygiene kits, food, water, and medical assistance, ADRA officials said.
More than 1,500 people have died since flooding began last month, the Associated Press reported. Officials for a United Nations office said the disaster has affected more than 4 million people. The effect of the flooding on farmlands, crops, cattle, roads, buildings, and communication networks has been severe.
"The entire infrastructure we built in the last 50 years has been destroyed," a spokesman for the provincial Disaster Management Authority in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said, according to AP.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the threat of water-borne diseases remains high in all affected areas, as the flooding has contaminated water sources. Though a 2005 earthquake killed more people, the concentrated location of death and damage to newly built infrastructure has frustrated local officials.
"This is the worst ever calamity in our history," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
As more heavy monsoon rains are in the forecast, government authorities expect the number of dead to climb further. In addition, the vast amounts of water, which are now flowing south through Baluchistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces, have already caused flash flooding and are threatening low-lying areas.
For more information, visit adra.org.
