PAKISTAN: How to HELP & Updates

Photo credit to IFRC.org

HERE'S ONE GOOD WAY TO HELP VICTIMS OF FLOODING: Donate to International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - When you go here you are asked which region of the world you'd like to help. CLICK here International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for reports and a way to give secure donation.

Let's discuss OTHER WAYS we in the International Blogosphere might help support these poorest of the poor swept into one tragedy after the other through no fault of their own. (And let's ask Pakistanis how we might help best now and long-range.)


Photo Internet Cache

August 1, 2010

See Channel News Asia dot com here Cholera of some concern.

Residents may still be waiting for evacuation by army soldiers in Nowshera, in northwest Pakistan yesterday evening. Heavy monsoon rains have triggered the worst floods in decades

Pakistan flood toll tops 1,100, 1.5 million affected, flash floods and landslides in northwest province of Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa. Cholera may still be of concern and at least another 50 or so have died in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials said. 01 August 2010 1754 hrs

Thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland have been destroyed in a region of Pakistan reeling from years of extremist bloodshed - partly due to Taliban extremist and US drones.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told AFP:
"We are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods all over the province," he said, adding that he feared the death toll could rise.

From News Reports at Channel News Asia (URL above under photo):

A senior official at the provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed the toll.

Hussain said more than 3,700 homes had been swept away in the floods, and the number of people made homeless was rising.

Hundreds of survivors sought shelter in schools in Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan, and in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, after escaping the floods with children on their backs.

The US government is rushing helicopters, boats, bridges, water units and other supplies to Pakistan as part of an 10-million-dollar aid pledge.

"The Pakistani people are friends and partners, and the United States is standing with them as the tragic human toll mounts from flooding in northwest Pakistan," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

China, which has also been hit by severe flooding, announced a 10 million yuan (1.5 million dollar) donation, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which cited a government website.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said it had airlifted more than 500 stranded people, including six foreigners, as part of relief operations and was carrying out reconnaissance missions to assess the damage to infrastructure.

Floods also ravaged parts of Afghanistan, killing at least 65 people and affecting more than 1,000 families, officials said.

Pakistani television footage and photographs taken from helicopters showed people clinging to the walls and rooftops of damaged houses as water rushed through villages.

Muqaddir Khan, 25, who fled the floods with nine relatives, told AFP in Peshawar that he had lost everything.

"I laboured hard in Saudi Arabia for three years and set up a small shop which was swept away by flooding in minutes," Khan said.

Pakistan's weather bureau said the northwest had been hit by an "unprecedented" 312 millimetres (12 inches) of rain in the space of 36 hours.

More than 300 people affected by the floods rallied in Peshawar on Sunday, chanting slogans criticising the provincial government for not providing them with adequate shelter.

"I had built a two-room house on the outskirts of Peshawar with my hard-earned money but I lost it in the floods," said 53-year-old labourer Ejaz Khan, who joined the rally.

"The government is not helping us... the school building where I sheltered is packed with people, with no adequate arrangement for food and medicine," Khan told AFP.

Waseyullah, 33, said his two brothers had worked as labourers in Saudi Arabia for the money to build a small furniture factory which he lost in the floods.

"I expect the provincial government to help me financially to rebuild this factory," he added.

Information Minister Hussain said rescue teams were trying to reach 1,500 tourists stranded in Swat district, which was the scene of a major anti-Taliban offensive last year.

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

The army said it had sent boats and helicopters to rescue stranded people and its engineers were trying to open more roads and divert swollen rivers.

In Pakistani Kashmir, officials said army helicopters had been urgently requested in the worst-hit Neelam valley.

"It has been cut off from the rest of Kashmir and we still don't know how many people are killed, injured and displaced there," State Disaster Management Authority chief Farooq Niaz said.

However, authorities said they had repaired a damaged portion of the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway to restore the northwest region's road links with the rest of Pakistan.

The flooding capped a week of tragedy for Pakistan after an airliner crashed into hills near Islamabad on Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board. - AFP/ms

Other Related News

Irish Times dot com here

Evidently the weather is improving somewhat in NW Pakistan flood region‎ (report 5 hours ago) - Dawn News Sunday reported the death toll is expected to rise as the flood waters recede and reveal more of the damage.

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Photo Internet Cache

Aljazeera dot net here