These are never the best of times for the people of Pakistan! Since July 29, 2010, heavy monsoon rains have triggered flooding that has left over 1,500 people dead. The death toll is expected to greatly increase as flooding is fast spreading throughout the country and countless are missing due to flash floods and landslides. To compound this woe, it is expected that more monsoon rains and flooding are on the way till the end of August according to experts.
The negative impact of the floods has been great and devastating. Presently, it is estimated that over 20 Million people have been affected by this present disaster. These estimates represent more than the 2004 Indonesia Tsunami, 2005 Pakistan Earthquake, and 2010 Haiti Earthquake combined and the destruction is increasing each day. As Millions of homes in thousands of villages and towns are constantly being destroyed and people are being displaced.
According to the Pakistan government, it is believed that more than 248,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged and 1.38 million acres of crop land flooded across Pakistan. Livestock’s are no exemption to this disaster. In fact, At least 10,000 cows have drowned over the past eight days of the floods!
The floods have also taken its destructive tolls over infrastructures such as dams, power stations, roads, bridges, schools, agricultural wells and drinking water hand pumps. Thus, for Pakistan and its inhabitant, this represents perhaps the worst and deadliest natural calamity the nation has ever witnessed!
To make matters worse and according to the united nations, the flooding, has now affected about one-fifth of the country — nearly 62,000 square miles — or an area larger than England. This makes it quite difficult for relief for the majority of the affected people. At present, the number of affected people needing relief has greatly increased to about six million! Their greatest needs are; Clean water, shelter and food. It is saddening though, that of the six million Pakistanis desperate for food and clean water, only just 500,000 have received help according to the UN.
In the aftermath of this weather related disaster of 2010 that is continuing to unfold in Pakistan since July 29, 2010, so many questions have been raised such as; how will Pakistan cope and survive this present disaster? What will be the long term effect of the disaster? How and when will Pakistan’s economy recover from the extensive damage to infrastructure and crops which is estimated to exceed 4 billion USD? In fact, how will they recover from the total economic impact which is estimated to be as much as 43 billion USD? How will the citizens cope with the psychological effects of the disaster? And more importantly, how and why has the international community and humanitarian societies sluggishly responded to the present predicament of Pakistan?
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