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Pakistan Storm Response Latest
Last Updated on 29-08-07

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Situation Update

UN OCHA reports that the humanitarian crisis on the ground, in the flood affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan, remains grave for thousands of displaced families. Over 200,000 people are living in spontaneous roadside settlements, mainly in the north-west of Sindh and are unable to return to their towns and villages as flood water has not subsided. People are in desperate need of food, water and sanitation facilities. Food insecurity is likely to get worse if support is not given soon. 22 formal camp sites are in place in Balochistan, whereas an additional 25,000 people are living in 152 schools, hospitals and government buildings.

Extensive damage to agricultural land, poultry farms, orchards and irrigation systems have destroyed livelihoods and local infrastructure. Crucially, land can not be accessed for the sewing of the Rabi crop in September.

The foul stagnant water in many areas is now causing widespread diarrohea. In particular, children are left vulnerable to other water borne diseases along with skin infections. In Jhal Magsi Balochistan some 5,351 acute diarrohea cases were reported from July to August, as well as seven deaths. The UN and other humanitarian agencies, alongside the government, continue to make efforts to assist those affected by the floods.

A government survey shows that Balochistan incurred a loss of Rs. 24 billion due to the cyclone and consequent flooding in most parts of the province. As per the findings, agriculture suffered severely as 266,000 acres of crops and orchards were swept away. The loss has been estimated to be Rs. 9.5 billion. Loss of cattle and poultry has incurred Rs. 2.2 billion damages. Fisheries, another major source of livelihood in the coastal belt of the province, incurred losses of Rs. 273 million. Irrigation & Power and Public Health Engineering sectors suffered identical losses of Rs. 3.7 billion each. The industrial sector of the province also endured losses of Rs.10 million.

The floods inundated the communication networks as 5,000kms of road were washed away, causing a loss that has been recorded as Rs. 2.6 billion. Some 264 education institutions and 220 health units were damaged at a cumulative loss of Rs. 577 million. UNICEF has raised concerns about the future of school children, as vacations are about to end, but most of the IDPs are taking refuge in school buildings. A provincial government official has stated that Balochistan cannot generate funds to overcome these immense losses and would need to rely on external assistance.

According to initial estimates, livestock was damaged in four districts in Sindh province. Nearly 20 percent of the standing rice crop was also damaged in Sindh, which is expected to hamper the rice production by nearly 100,000 tons this year. Out of the total nine districts of Sindh with a targeted area of 1.4 million acres for rice cultivation, 20 percent (271,000 acres) have been totally devastated.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) has announced an appeal of US$ 3,870,054, under which 20,000 flood affected families will be supported in Sindh and Balochistan. The ACT appeal will be implemented by CWS P/A and its local partners. Assistance will be given in the areas of water and sanitation, primary healthcare and hygiene promotion, shelter and psychosocial support, in target districts of Gadap Town and Thatta in Sindh province and Turbat (Kech) District in Balochistan province over a 10 month period.

Background

A tropical cyclone, “Yemyin”, struck coastal areas in Balochistan and southern Sindh province on 26th June and was followed by heavy rain, which resulted in wide scale damage to roads, communication links, crops and houses. Thousands of people were evacuated away from Hingo and Kech districts, especially Turbat city which was subject to massive flooding as rivers burst their banks. The residents of the inundated areas took refuge in hospitals, schools, mosques and even date palm trees. Three days earlier, a severe storm on 23rd June caused over 200 deaths in Karachi city, Sindh and also affected the districts of Thatta and Dadu.

The official death toll in Balochistan is 176, while 2.5 million have been displaced. Immediately after the cyclone, affected areas of Balochistan become cut off from the rest of the country, as major highways and bridges had been damaged, or in some cases washed away. Relief efforts to bring aid items via helicopter faced problems due to changing weather, and accessibility.

Sindh was spared the full impact of the cyclone, though several fishermen had to be rescued by the navy and many islands off the Karachi coast were also affected. Crops and orchards have also been damaged. The worst affected areas are Shahdad Kot and Dadu.

Efforts are being made to evacuate these communities. As yet, the majority of relief efforts have been focused on urban areas, but smaller rural communities across Thatta and Badin in the Sindh, often living in mud and straw houses, are also suffering the after effects of the weather conditions, with little aid for rebuilding and cleaning up, coupled with having to face severe disruption in livelihoods that are reliant on agriculture and fishing. Thus far, 10,000 people have been injured, whilst 21,400 people have been left without shelter.

CWS - P/A Response

CWS – P/A was among the first humanitarian organisations to immediately respond to the emergency. We conducted our first assessment in Gadap on 26th June, one of the worst hit towns, about 55km from Karachi. Out of the eight union councils in Gadap, four were badly hit, with Gujro and Sangul being the worst affected. 1000 houses had been either severely damaged or completely destroyed. 24 have been reported dead, with 250 injured, including a high number of women and children. A second assessment was conducted on 27th June in another part of Gadap, where we spoke with affected families and got a clearer picture of the full scale of the damage incurred due to last week’s storms.

Of the three villages assessed, general themes started to emerge. The most prominent, and potentially dangerous, is the contamination of drinking water. The covers that sat atop the local water tanks were either blown off or destroyed, and as it costs around 5000 PKR (approx 80 USD) to repair one tank, people are either drinking the dirty water, (leading to obvious health problems, such as diarrhoea) or having to fork out for water tanks, (expensive, and unsustainable in the long term). New wells can be dug, but this is also costly. Whilst some villagers work as labourers, the majority worked at the nearby poultry farms, 60% of which were destroyed. Most were reliant on a daily wage of around 150 PKR per day. With no income, it is nearly impossible for the villagers to start to try and create an inhabitable environment for themselves. The extensive need is for drinking water, building materials, food packages, and materials to provide some temporary shelter.

In the first week of July, CWS-P/A distributed 250 food packages consisting of wheat, rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, tea leaves, powdered milk and salt. In addition, matches and bath soap and 320 plastic sheets for shelter under the ‘Rapid Response Fund’ appeal from ACT were also handed out.
Alongside members from Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Action Against Hunger, Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum, CWS-P/A took part in an assessment in Thatta on 28th of June, focusing on villages in Kharo Chan, Keti Bandar, Shah Bunder and Jati. Initial findings show 1500 destroyed or partially damaged houses across the 4 areas, 4 deaths, 30 people injured, with damage to 60 poultry farms, and 100 fruit farms that provided significant employment for local residents.

The immediate needs that have to be addressed were firstly shelter, in particular, material for roofing, and food items. The majority of the houses are jhonpri, (houses largely made of straw) which were unable to stand up to the 220 kmh winds and heavy rains. It’s estimated that each roof (inc. plastic sheeting), based on a house of 14x16ft, would cost between 7000 – 8000 PKR ($130 USD approx). Storage and purification of water, access to food and basic health and hygiene are all things that will need to be properly addressed in the near future.

On July 3rd another joint assessment was carried out by team members from CWS-P/A, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) in the Thatta district of Sindh. The focus of the exercise was to assess the health, environment, water & sanitation and hygiene conditions in the affected areas.

Drinking water is a critical problem, and it was observed that the stored water used by the villagers was evidently dirty, and was not likely to be boiled prior to use because of a shortage of firewood. There is also a sharp increase in snake bite incidents. Life has always been precarious for these rural communities, and the cyclone has merely compounded the situation.

The team also visited the fisherman docks where there were clear indications of destruction and great loss due to the cyclone. 50 boats had either sunk or been damaged by the strong winds. The entire fisherman’s market had ceased to exist and the docking areas had also suffered damage. Needless to say, this will have a huge impact on the livelihood of local communities. After the Thatta assessment a distribution of 500 plastic sheets was undertaken.

CWS-P/A also completed a joint assessment with Oxfam, CRS and Concern in Turbat and Gawadar in Balochistan. The rains and subsequent flooding left 24 dead and hundreds injured. Nearly 250,000 people have been affected which is approximately 50 percent of the total population. Due to the hot weather and limited availability of food and safe drinking water, people were taking refuge in schools and other public buildings.

Other needs that have been identified are shelter, food, clean clothes, water and sanitation, hygiene promotion and NFIs. There is also a need for immediate health intervention, while urgent fumigation of certain areas is also required to avoid contamination and the spread of diseases due to rotting animal carcasses. The local government has urged humanitarian agencies to assist in this regard.

On July 9th, a further water and sanitation assessment was carried out in Turbat. The team focused on finding out the extent of the damage affecting livelihoods, water & sanitation and heath facilities in the area.
All the low lying areas of Turbat are hard hit. In certain areas, the flood water level went as high as 8 meters and remained so for some days, wiping out almost all mud houses. In addition to human settlements, the flooding destroyed roads, water systems, electricity, and public buildings.

The team witnessed a severe lack of health services, especially female health staff, and an extremely unhygienic environment. Again, most of the water sources had been contaminated, but through lack of alternatives, many people are still drinking it, resulting in increased incidence of water borne diseases. Other major ailments reported are diarrohea, dysentery, and ARI (Acute Respiratory Track Infection). Malaria is endemic as well as skin diseases.

Over 90% of the private houses had been washed away in Kosh Kalat, another area that we visited. People have set up spontaneous camps and have managed to salvage a few possessions from the mud left behind by the floods. Some use old rags as roofs over their shelters. All sanitation facilities (where they existed) have been obliterated. There is only 1 toilet in the local mosque. Bathing (if any) is done at night in the ponds of residual flood water; resulting in skins diseases which manifest as huge boils and painful lesions. The entire area is currently facing a food shortage which may potentially lead to extended food aid dependency, as the top soil has been stripped down to the rocks. The most pressing need is to secure all water sources, especially the few functioning water schemes that weren’t destroyed, as well as initiating pre-emptive treatment for malaria. From from July 11th to 20th , distributions of 1,000 food packages and 500 plastic sheet were carried out in Turbat .

To ensure long term rehabilitation of those affected by the floods, CWS-P/A issued an appeal this week to the Action by Churches Together network (ACT), entitled 'Emergency Assistance for Storm Affectees'. It will cover the period from August 1st 2007 to May 31st 2008.

The next phase of the project will address the shelter, psychosocial support, primary healthcare, water & sanitation and hygiene needs of the most affected households in each of the three target districts. A total number of over 20,000 households will be supported directly. Vulnerable families and people such as widows, children and the elderly who are without food and in need of assistance will be given priority in the selection process. In addition, 500 humanitarian workers will benefit from Sphere training.

CWS-P/A and its partners will follow the Sphere Minimum Standards for emergency relief and code of conduct. The components of the proposed programme will be directly implemented by CWS-P/A, with involvement of partners including Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), and South Asia Partnership – Pakistan (SAP - PK).

For case stories from our recent distributions and assessments, please check the 'Latest Updates' section.

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