Half a Million Flee as Pakistan Floods Head South, 4 Million People Affected

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Flash floods kill 85 in India-controlled Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 6, 2010 (Xinhua) --

At least 85 people were killed and scores injured on Friday after flash floods hit a major town in the mountainous area of Ladakh in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

"The death toll in the flash floods has rose to 85 and is likely to go up further," said an official.

The flash floods and mud slides triggered after a sudden downpour Thursday night in the area have caused a massive damage washing away buildings.

Police, army and civil administration have launched rescue operations on massive scale.

Officials said the town's main SNM Hospital and bus stand have been damaged and water has submerged telephone exchange, thereby snapping communication links. The strong water current has also torn parts of the main Srinagar-Leh road hampering traffic movement.

Many civilian buildings have also been washed away in the heavy downpour.

Five villages are reported to be hit in the sudden downpour and flash floods. These included Choglumsar and Shapoo. Old Leh city was among the worst affected.

The air traffic to the Leh has been suspended as water has logged into the airport, causing damage to the runway at various places.

Ladakh is a high-altitude desert about 3,500 meters above sea level, and receives low rainfall.

Editor: Yang Lina

Mass evacuation as raging floods inundate Sindh

The Daily Times of Pakistan, Friday, August 06, 2010

* Authorities begin evacuating half a million people living along Indus in Sindh
* Major floods expected today
* 25 police stations, 200 villages of Ghotki, Shikarpur, Sukkur and Khairpur submerged

Sukkur:

Authorities began evacuating half a million people living along the Indus River on Thursday, as the overall number hit by the country’s worst floods in living memory rose to more than four million.

As fresh rains fell on Thursday, bloated rivers gushed toward southern Sindh, where hundreds of thousands of people live along the water. Authorities said they have set up 400 relief camps for those evacuated from the province, and are using 30 boats to help evacuations.

Authorities in Sindh warned that major floods were expected on Saturday and Sunday in fertile agricultural areas along the Indus River. The military said 25,000 people had been evacuated in parts of the province, while the local government put the number at 150,000.

“We have a target evacuation of at least 500,000 people who live in 11 most vulnerable districts,” said provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo, saying many towns and villages were in danger.

Dams: Officials warned that dams could burst as heavy rain lashed Kot Addu, transforming the area into a giant lake.

“All these villages are dangerous now. We are evacuating the population. Important installations are in danger,” said Manzoor Sarwar, the Muzaffargarh police chief.

The water level at Guddu Barrage is constantly surging and the floodwater has inundated schools, mosques and several houses in villages alongside the barrage. Over 700,000 cusecs of water passed through the barrage, causing damage to dozens of villages.

The precautionary arrangements have already been made in Sukkur, heavy machinery, stones and concerned crew was transported to SM Mud Bund, as it was declared “vulnerable”.

Police stations, villages: Meanwhile, at least 25 police stations, over 200 villages along the Indus River were inundated in four districts of Sindh as floodwater reached the province.

According to reports, water level at Guddu Barrage was now 848,000 cusecs as rains continued in Guddu, Kashmore, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur Shikarpur and adjoining areas.

The water level at Sukkur Barrage was 355,000 cusecs upstream, while 322,000 cusecs downstream, due to which over 200 villages in four districts, including Ghotki, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Khairpur, had been inundated.

At Sukkur and the Indus River is likely to touch an exceptionally high flood level on August 7 (tomorrow) and may inundate low-lying areas of Sukkur, Larkana, Nawabshah, Hyderabad and Naushero Feroze. agencies

Floods have affected 4 million people: UN

The Daily Times of Pakistan, Friday, August 06, 2010

GENEVA:

The worst floods in generations brought on by torrential monsoon rains have affected more than four million people and killed some 1,600, the United Nations estimated on Thursday. “Altogether, more than four million people are in a way or another affected,” said Manuel Bessler, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Pakistan.

“What we are facing now is a major catastrophe,” added the UN official who was speaking from Islamabad at a teleconference with journalists in Geneva. Bessler revised the death toll from the disaster to 1,600 from 1,500 previously, and said the figures would go up. “We are only in the middle of the monsoon season, and we are afraid it will get worse,” he said. afp

Half a Million Flee as Pakistan Floods Head South

AFP, August 6, 2010

Hasan Mansoor -

Pakistan went on red alert Friday for extreme flooding in its rich agricultural south, evacuating half a million people from at-risk areas as catastrophic flooding worsened.

The nearly two-week-old crisis has affected more than four million across the volatile and largely impoverished country, after floods washed away entire villages and killed at least 1,600, according to UN estimates.

Authorities in the densely populated southern province of Sindh warned that major floods were expected in the next 48 hours in the fertile basin along the swollen Indus river.

Manuel Bessler, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Pakistan, described the situation as a "major catastrophe".

The meteorological office issued a red alert overnight, warning of an "imminent" and "extreme" flood threat to Sindh, especially along the Indus, as flooding spread to Indian-held Kashmir, killing at least 60 people.

"At least 11 districts are at risk of flooding in Sindh, where more than 500,000 people have been relocated to safer places and evacuation still continues," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

More than 252,000 homes are thought to have been damaged or destroyed across northwest and central Pakistan, and it could take weeks before electricity and other infrastructure is fully restored.

Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said that hundreds of villages were flooded in the province and that embankments at Sukkur barrage were being reinforced.

"Some 200,000 people have been evacuated and we are now forcing the people not willing to leave the area.

"Unprecedented rain has also hindered rescue and relief activities, but we are working with army and navy to avoid any loss of human life," he said.

Further north in Punjab, an AFP reporter saw an exodus of people streaming out of flooded villages, wading barefoot through water, cramming belongings onto donkey carts and into cars under heavy rain on Thursday.

The flooding has threatened electricity generation plants, forcing units to shut down in a country suffering from a crippling energy crisis.

Only three of 12 units are now functioning at the 1,200-megawatt Kot Addu Power Company plant, the director general of the state-owned Pakistan Electric Power Co., Mohammad Khalid, told AFP.

Khalid said that three grid stations in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also shut down, and two private plants closed.

Survivors lashed out at authorities for failing to come to their rescue and provide better relief, piling pressure on a cash-strapped administration straining to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.

Particular scorn has been heaped on the unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari for pressing ahead with a visit to Europe at the height of the disaster.

He was to hold showdown talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, overshadowed by Cameron's claims that Pakistan is secretly backing violent extremists while publicly denouncing terrorism.

Zardari has hit back at the allegations, citing the high price paid by Pakistan in its fight against militants, with 3,574 people killed in suicide and bomb attacks in Pakistan over the last three years.

He insisted Islamabad is committed to fighting militants in the region.

On Thursday, the US State Department said Al-Qaeda's core in Pakistan is the "most formidable" terrorist group threatening the United States.

Islamic charities, some with suspected links to extremist militants, have been stepping into the breach on the ground, as international aid steps up but aid workers struggle to reach all those affected on the ground.

UN special envoy Jean-Maurice Ripert told AFP that a flash appeal was being urgently put together in response to the crisis, and said there was a risk of epidemics because of lack of clean drinking water.

"That's what worries the most (the) humanitarian community, because of the lack of drinking water and water access," he said.

British charities grouped to launch an urgent appeal on TV and radio through the Disasters Emergency Committee.

The US government -- which warned Thursday that Al-Qaeda's core in Pakistan remains the "most formidable" terrorist group threatening the United States -- has now pledged a total of 35 million dollars in flood aid.

US military helicopter relief missions are travelling into the worst-hit northwestern regions, the US embassy said.

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