The death toll from the devastating floods in Pakistan neared 1,100 Monday, as international aid began to trickle in following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led cash-strapped government’s desperate appeal for aid to deal with the crisis that has displaced 33 million or one-seventh of the country’s population.
Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman called it the “monster monsoon of the decade,” while Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said the floods have impacted Pakistan’s economy by USD 10 billion.
At least 1,061 are dead and 1,575 injured, according to the latest data issued on Monday by the National Disaster Management Authority, the chief national organisation tasked to deal with natural calamities.
It said that about 992,871 houses were totally or partially damaged, leaving millions without access to food, clean drinking water and shelter.https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.528.0_en.html#goog_459991399
Around 7,19,558 livestock are also dead, as millions of acres of fertile farmlands have been inundated by weeks of constant rains.
Officials said the final death toll could be much higher, a grim forecast as thousands of villages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province remain cut off from the rest of the country as swollen rivers destroyed roads and bridges, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Pakistan’s Energy Ministry said that restoration of power in Sindh and Balochistan provinces remained top priority, Geo TV reported.
Unable to cope with one of the worst catastrophes, Pakistan sought international help and the world has responded, with humanitarian assistance and solidarity messages coming from several countries.
Citing an aide to Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif, the BBC said the country was desperate for international support.
“Pakistan has been grappling with economic issues, but now just when we were about to overcome them the monsoon disaster hit,” Salman Sufi said, adding that funding from a lot of development projects had been rerouted to the affected people.
The US, UK, UAE and others have contributed to a disaster appeal, but more funds are needed, officials said.