Pakistan is appealing for further international assistance after floods wreaked havoc across the country.
An interior ministry source told the BBC that while the US, UK, United Arab Emirates, and other countries had donated to a monsoon disaster appeal, much more money is still required.Salman Sufi reported that since June, there have been over 1,000 fatalities and millions of displaced people.He claimed that the Pakistani government was making every effort to assist its citizens.Numerous rivers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province burst their banks, creating severe flash floods that forced thousands of people to leave their homes in the northwest of the country.Junaid Khan, 23, told the AFP news agency, “The house which we built with years of arduous labour started sinking in front of our eyes.” “We watched as our dream home sank from the side of the road.”Thousands of people have been forced out of their houses in the south-eastern province of Sindh as a result of the severe damage. Pakistan has long struggled with economic problems, but just as we were ready to find a solution, the monsoon tragedy struck, he remarked. He noted that money from numerous development initiatives had been redistributed to the impacted individuals. In every village we passed through in Sindh, there were displaced people. Although the full extent of the destruction in the province is not yet fully realized, the locals regard it as the biggest calamity they have ever survived.In Pakistan, floods are not unusual, but locals claim that these rains were special. They exceeded anything that had ever been witnessed here. “Floods of biblical proportions,” said one local official.Thousands of mud homes have submerged nearby the city of Larkana, and for miles all that is visible are treetops.Thatched roofs can be seen emerging from beneath the ominous water where the water level is a little lower.The survivors have a variety of needs. The locals in one of the villages we visit are starving. In another, they claim to have their grains but require cash to cover their other expenses.We go to one where many kids have water-borne illnesses. When a moving truck stops, athletes sprint in its direction. Children move toward the lengthy line while pulling other children behind themApparently, a 12-year-old girl and her younger sister haven’t eaten in a day. “Nothing to eat has arrived. However, my sister is ill and has been throwing up; I hope they can assist.”According to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 33 million people, or 15% of the nation’s population, were affected by the flood.He said that the damages brought on by this season’s floods were equivalent to those allegedly caused by the greatest floods ever recorded in 2010–2011.Government officials in the nation attribute the destruction on climate change.