ON INFRASTRUCTURE: The floods apparently affected the power infrastructure of Pakistan. It was reported that 10,000 transmission lines, transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood hit areas got damaged. At the moment, the damage has caused a power shortfall of 3.135 gigawatts. The Floods have also damaged an estimated 2,433 miles of highway and 3,508 miles of railway. It is estimated that the present Cost for highway damages stands at approximately 158 million USD and railway damages stands at 131 million USD. Public building damages are estimated at 1 billion USD.
ON HEALTH: Just like with any catastrophic plagued region, Health and Aid agencies have warned that outbreaks of diseases, such as: gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and skin diseases due to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation can pose a serious new risk to victims of the flood. Thus, it was no surprise when On 14 August, there emerged the first documented case of cholera in the town of Mingora, as fear ran through millions of stranded victims of flood, who are already suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhoea. To corroborate this fact, the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water further exposing them to more health risks. In fact, it is presently estimated that over two thousand people have died from the impacts of the floods!
ON AGRICULTURE, LANDSCAPE AND FOOD: It is reported that the Floods have submerged 17 million acres of Pakistan's most fertile crop land. It is also estimated that the floods have also killed 200,000 livestock and has washed away massive amounts of grain. In fact it is believed that farmers will be unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds in 2010, meaning a massive loss of food production in 2011, and of course leading to long term food shortages. In monetary terms, The agricultural damages is estimated to be more than 2.9 billion dollars, and include over 700,000 acres of lost cotton crops, 200,000 acres of sugar cane and 200,000 acres of rice, in addition to the loss of over 500,000 tonnes of stocked wheat, 300,000 acres of animal fodder and the stored grain losses.
ON THE ECONOMY: The Structural damages caused by the floods are estimated to exceed 4 billion and the total economic impact is estimated to be as much as 43 billion USD!
ON SECURITY: The floods have done little to help the security of Pakistan especially due to the presence of the Taliban. Pakistani and US military forces have been diverted from fighting the Pakistani Taliban insurgents (TTP) in the Northwest so as to help in the relief effort. It is strongly feared that this will allow Taliban fighters to regroup.
The Pakistani Taliban have also engaged in relief efforts and made inroads where the government is absent or seen as corrupt. It is feared that governmental delay and corruption will give an advantage to the Taliban to settle and regroup. In fact a Taliban spokesperson has asked the Pakistani government to reject Western help from "Christians and Jews" claiming that, instead, the Taliban can raise $20 million in relief for the flood victims.
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