United Nations chief Antonio Guterres is scheduled to travel for two days to the flood-stricken Pakistan which officials hope will help increase worldwide support for an ongoing humanitarian crisis that affects millions.
Pakistan officials have said they expect to spend at least $10 billion to reconstruct the infrastructure and fix any damage but the main priority, right now is shelter and food for the millions who have been left homeless.
“Everything is submerged in the water, everything was washed away,” declared Ayaz Ali, who was suffering from fever when he finally accepted his spot aboard a navy vessel that was rescuing villagers from the flooded communities in the southern Sindh province.
In a tweet on the way heading to Pakistan, Guterres said he was determined to “be with the people in their times of need, mobilize international solidarity.”
Pakistan is awash with heavy — and often destructive rains in the monsoon season that occurs annually that are vital for water supply and agriculture.
However, a downpour as severe as this one hasn’t had in decades as well. Pakistan official blames climate change that is causing an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather across the globe.
Pakistan contributes less than 1% of the global greenhouse gas emissions and is yet ranked eighth on a list created by the non-governmental organization Germanwatch of the countries that are as the most vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate changes.
Tarpaulins, tents, and tents required
A flood relief program backed to government officials and the Pakistan administration as well as the UN last month demanded immediately $160 million international aid and aid is currently getting there.
On Thursday, a US Air Force C-17 landed – it was the very first American military aircraft to land in Pakistan for a long time — providing tents in desperate need and tarpaulins that could be used as temporary shelters.
Although Washington is a major provider of military equipment to Islamabad Relations between the two countries have been in a state of conflict due to conflicting concerns in neighboring Afghanistan — particularly in the wake of the Taliban came back to power in August of last year.
Also Read: Easypaisa Facilitating Flood Relief Donations across Pakistan
The Met office has reported that Pakistan was blessed with five-fold more rainfall than average in 2022. Padidan is a town of a few hundred inhabitants located in Sindh is covered in greater than 1.8 meters (70 inches) since the monsoon first began in June.
The impact of the torrential rains was twofold flash floods in the mountains of the north that swept away bridges, roads and other structures in mere minutes and a gradual increase in water levels on the south plains which has submerged thousands of square kilometers (miles) of ground.
In the Jaffarabad district in Balochistan On Thursday, the Balochistan people fled their homes in floating rafts built from upturned wood “charpoy” bed sheets.
A multitude of campsites for temporary use have sprouted up on slivers deserted land to the west and south — and frequently railway tracks and roads are the only elevated terrain in a landscape that is dominated by water.
With livestock and people squeezed in the same area in the camps, they are prime for disease outbreaks and there have been numerous cases of dengue transmitted by mosquitoes being confirmed, as well as Scabies.
The floods have killed more than 1,400 people, as per the most recent National Disaster Management Authority report.
More than 7,000 kilometers of roads were damaged, 246 bridges were washed away, as well as greater than 1.7 million houses and businesses damaged.
