Issued: August 2, 2010, 3:00 p.m.

With tides of wild floods finally terminating into the Arabian Sea, by passing through the southern district of Thatta, the aftermath of the unprecedented disaster starts unfolding in various parts of the country. There are reports of indignant IDPs protesting over half cooked relief measures and increased number of deaths by gastro, in media. WHO has expressed fear of malaria outbreak in the flood affected areas and economic gurus are predicting a price hike of 32 percent, enough to kneel down the already crumbling economy. Major highlights of last 96 hours are:

Kachho in Dadu District has been prone to droughts due to an extremely arid climate and suffers from chronic water scarcity. The area has been experiencing severe bouts of drought, resulting in the spread of disease amongst the local people such as tuberculosis, cholera, diarrhea, measles, and malaria.

Covering approximately 160,000 square kilometers, the 2010 monsoon rains and glacier melting have resulted in Pakistan’s worst natural disaster. The unprecedented flooding caused 2,000 deaths so far; this number is increasing due to the aftereffects from severe food shortage and disease. As the floodwaters inundated Pakistan’s rivers and traveled from northern areas to the southern coast, close to 20 million people were affected.

Issued: August 29, 2010, 11:00 p.m.

Sindh Province: Fakir Goth breach which has widened to 200 feet and KB Feeder Breach, responsible for inundation, are just 5 kilometers away from the Thatta City. It is also feared that Garhi Khuda Bux, home town of late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, founder of Pakistan Peoples Party and ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, may get swamped. There is a whisper on the politics of breaches and the forex have fallen by $181.8 million.

Issued: August 26, 2010, 6:00 p.m.

The week started with returning of some of the flood affectees-to their native places-in upper parts of the country, where residual floodwaters, rubble, and ruins greet them. With flood waters mounting pressure on the coastal city of Thatta (in the Southern part of Pakistan) new estimates reveal the widespread devastation caused by floods.

Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan's intervention in flood affected areas of Pakistan.

Humanitarian efforts have evolved over the years. From simple generosity of helping those in need, humanitarian efforts on a global level have become intricate with many factors such as the amount of funds, the types of aid, and how aid reaches communities in need. The process of providing relief during emergencies needs to be efficient and appropriate to the needs of those communities requiring assistance. However, it is not always these priorities that drive relief efforts. In attempts to help, governments and organizations are capable of not giving aid to those who need it most, not providing the right type of relief, creating or worsening local conflicts, and misappropriation of funds and other resources.

On August 21, nineteen of 23 districts in Sindh were announced as calamity-hit regions by the provincial government as the flood waters posed serious threats to Hyderabad and Thatta. About 150,000 people were forced to move to higher ground as floodwaters submerged more towns and villages.

In the next 24-28 hours, River Indus is likely to sustain exceptionally high flood level at Sukkhur Barrage. The mighty Indus is flowing in very-high-flood with rising trend at Kotri Barrage and likely to attain exceptionally high-flood level of 800,000 cusecs, during next 12-24 hrs.

Food Aid Distribution in Sibi, Balochistan from CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan on Vimeo.

Church World Service - Pakistan/Afghanistan distributes food aid to flood-affected families in Sibi, Balochistan.

The magnitude of the devastation caused by the floods has created unprecedented challenges for humanitarian efforts. As communication lines remain disrupted and poor weather conditions hamper relief activities, concerns grow for additional flood waters. While many people still remain without food, shelter, water, and medication, some estimates suggest that one-fifth of Pakistan is flooded.

As the initial floodwaters continue to move south – only to be replaced by unrelenting new surges – the Pakistani government and the humanitarian community grapple with the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history. And while the international community has been moderately quick to commit some initial funds to support the millions of affected, no where near enough money has been pledged or committed to meet the numbingly escalating needs across all four of Pakistan’s provinces.

With the death tolls above 1,500 and the floods now already in Sindh Province, recovery efforts remain underway. The floods have caused huge destruction in the provinces of Khyber Paktunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab including areas of Azad Jammu Kashmir while areas along the Indus in Sindh are expected to be badly damaged in the days ahead.

The worst floods in 80 years pose life-threatening consequences to the people in Khyber Paktunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Punjab, and Sindh.  So far, an estimated three million people are affected; this figure could increase by another one million as the floods reach Sindh Province.

As the floodwaters continue to pose severe threats to the people of Khyber Paktunkhwa, Balochistan, and Punjab, the death toll has reached 1,400 in the province of Khyber Paktunkhwa alone. Bannu, Lakki Marwat areas, Nowshera, and Charsadda especially are reported to be severely affected.  The flash floods have claimed 60 lives in Balochistan while violent waves of the Indus River have surged into Kot Addu in Muzaffargarh where heavy rains are expected in southern and western Punjab.

The recent monsoon rainfalls combined with flash foods have left thousands of people displaced in the three provinces of Pakistan. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Khyber Paktunkhwa recorded 500,600 displacements in the province with 774 reported deaths. While in Balochistan the reported figures have been 19 deaths with 3900 damaged houses in the surrounding districts of Sibi, Barkhan, Kohlu, and Naseerabad. Hundreds of villages in Punjab have been devastated with extensive damage to crops in D. I. Khan.

Al Jazeera Interview

FSN World News Interview