Pakistan’s Floods

What Happened?
• an unprecedented number of floods began in Pakistan in late July
• more than 160,000 square kilometers or 61,776 square miles have been affected,
• 20% of the country has been affected
• 1.2 million houses damaged or destroyed
• death toll at 1,752
• since early August, the number of people directly affected has risen from 3.2 to 21
million
– 10 million people without
shelter
• major crops affected
• Created a great environment
for Disease epidemics

People displaced by the flooding scramble for food and aid at

the roadside distribution point in Khangarh village
 Number of People Affected
Province # of people affected
Balochristan 672,171
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4,365,909
Punjab 8,200,000
Sindh 3,684,267
AJ&K 245,000
Gilgit Baltistan 8,561
Total 17,175,908
•
Children
nearly 8.6 million children have been affected by floods
• 7,800 schools have been damaged, while 5,000 others are being used as shelters
for displaced peoples
• floods have damaged or destroyed crops over an area of 4.25 million acres, making
millions of poor women and children vulnerable to malnutrtion
• children are especially vulnerable to diseases due to disruption in water supplies
and sanitation
• A half million Pakistani women hit by the flood will give birth over the next 6
months, and over 32,000 will experience complications

A child suffering from a waterborne disease

lies in bed at a local hospital in Multan Members of a family and their makeshift
roadside shelter near Sukkar
Number of Women/Children Affected

Age # of people affected

Women 15-49 3,091,663

Pregnant Women 704,212

Children under 18 years 8,587,954

Children under 5 years 2,404,627

Children under 1 year 606,310

 Causes
• what caused the floods?
– unprecedented floods began in late July
– monsoon patterns and heavy rainfall are responsible for flash floods
– climate change, dams, and deforestation
– timber mafia

Flood victims wait to be evacuated by a A photograph taken from a Pakistani army helicopter
Pakistani navy vessel in Sangi Patan shows the extent of the flooding in Sindh province
 Long Term Effects
• lost Infrastructure sets Pakistan back in years of development 
– hatred and mistrust in Pakistan of government
– devastated agriculture will take years to recover, causing food shortages
– Taliban may turn on humanitarian workers
– Massive disease outbreaks caused by poor water sanitation

Flood victims reach for food packages dropped

by a Pakistani army helicopter near Sukkur A woman displaced by the flooding cares for her ailing son at
a field hospital near Nowshera
 Global Aid
• global aid response has not been as strong as past disasters
– relatively low death toll and slow onset of floods
– Going by the numbers of people affected, the disaster is worse than the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti
earthquake combined, the U.N. says.
– Ten days after the Kashmir quake, donors gave or pledged $292 million,
according to the aid group Oxfam. The Jan. 12 disaster in Haiti led to pledges
nearing $1 billion within the first 10 days
– global “donor fatigue”
– U.N. officials on Wednesday launched a formal appeal for $460 million for
immediate relief for Pakistan, and have said the country will need billions
more to rebuild after the floodwaters recede.
– US has donated $147 million, UN $455 million
• The US and other countries have pledged nearly $800m
– officials estimate total economic impact to be as much as 43 billion USD
 UNICEF
• hygiene kits are being handed out to families hit by the floods
• Supplying ready-to-eat foods for infants and young children
• Supplying clean drinking water (2 million/day) and working on fixing tube
drinking wells
• Vaccinating against polio, measles, tetanus, and tuberculosis
• Running maternal and child health clinics, trying to reach the half million
women expected to give birth in the next six months
• Child-friendly environments are being setup
• what we can give: spare change
 What is needed?
• food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, medical and nutritional supplies,
hygiene promotion, vaccine immunization
• biggest threat is outbreak of water-borne diseases
• displaced population includes large number of children under 5 whose nutritional
level needs to be maintained

A girl displaced by the flooding carries bottles of drinking

water at a camp in Nowshera
 How You Can Help
• Put extra change in jars in the lunch line
• Buy baked goods from our bake sales
• Spread the word about the flooding and
disaster relief
 Bibliography
• **http://www.unicefusa.org/assets/pdf/UNICEF-Immediate-Needs-Document-Pakistan-Flooding-26-August-2010.pdf
• http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C09%5C05%5Cstory_5-9-2010_pg3_1
• http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=226036
• http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/PakistanFloodsCausesandConsequences_mbisht_190810
• http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/floodofmisery/2010/08/201081614111704604.html
• http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/09/02/Pakistan-floods-and-the-timber-mafia/UPI-92421283453799/
• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/13/world/main6770489.shtml
• http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-08-13-pakistan-floods_N.htm
• http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/eyqlauaukfkf/
• http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/ten-million-without-shelter-in-pakistan-floods-un/395138

• Pictures
• Slide 1: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725546&index=14
• Slide 2: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725570&index=18
• slide 3: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725779&index=2
• slide 6: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725551&index=12
• slide 6: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725543&index=27
• slide 7: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725572&index=21
• slide 7: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725524&index=6
• slide 9: http://www.unicef.org/photoessays/55865.html
• slide 10: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flooding#/?picture=365725526&index=9
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10986220