The armed forces have rescued a further 2,000 people stranded by rising floodwaters, they said on Friday, in a disaster blamed on climate change that has swamped about a third of the nation and is still growing.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains brought floods that have killed at least 1,208 people, including 416 children, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has said.
The United Nations has appealed for $160 million in aid to help tackle what it said was an “unprecedented climate catastrophe” as Pakistan’s navy has fanned out inland to carry out relief operations in areas that resemble a sea.
In the Dadu district of Sindh, one of the worst-affected provinces, several villages were under as much as 11 feet (3.35 m) of water, according to Bashir Khan, a local resident who is in contact with people remaining in the area.
“My house is under water, I had left my place four days ago with my family,” he told Reuters.
In neighbouring Mehar, residents were constructing a dike in an attempt to prevent floodwaters from entering the town, he said. The navy airlifted more than 150 people from villages in Dadu on Thursday, it said in a statement.
On Friday, the military said it had evacuated about 50,000 people, including 1,000 by air, since rescue efforts began.
“During the last 24 hours, 1,991 stranded individuals have been evacuated,” the armed forces said in a statement, adding that nearly 163 tonnes of relief supplies had also been delivered to the flood-affected. Several humanitarian relief flights are set to arrive on Friday from Middle Eastern nations such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the Foreign Office said.
Weather officials predict more rains and flash flooding in the month of September, with southern regions bracing for a surge of water from the Indus river.
Sindh has asked relief camps to deploy additional female doctors and medical officers, to ensure adequate care as more pregnant women and young mothers are displaced by the waters.
The Pakistan Army Aviation during the flood relief efforts flew 200 helicopters sorties in various areas of the country to evacuate stranded people and also transport rations and medicines.
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release said that during the past 24 hours, some 1,991 stranded individuals were evacuated and 162.6 tonnes of relief items were delivered to the flood affected people.
So far, over 50,000 individuals were shifted to safer locations from calamity hit areas. However, some 147 relief camps were functional round the clock in flood affected areas of Sindh, Southern Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for flood affectees.
Over 60,000 patients were treated and provided 3-5 days’ free medicine so far whereas 221 flood relief items collection points were established across the country. Moreover, more than 1,350 tonnes of food, medicines and other sustenance items were also collected.
