How to help flood victims in Pakistan

Last month, the United Nations reported that 160,000 square kilometers of Pakistan were underwater. That is nearly one-fifth of the entire country  an area nearly as large as Florida or Wisconsin  and the flooding continues.

Pakistani engineers are volunteering to relieve victims of the monsoon floods. Professional and student engineering organizations have donated food, water, tents and medical supplies, and are seeking donations to continue their work.

The Pakistan section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers delivered food and medical supplies during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month (while still observing daily fasts, they pointed out). Now, after Eid ul-Fitr, the celebration last weekend that marked the close of Ramadan, volunteers plan to distribute gifts to spread holiday cheer to flood victims. At the same time, engineers across the country are looking for housing solutions for the millions of newly homeless.

Flood victims in dire need of humanitarian aid

Flood victims in dire need humantarian aid,Three weeks on and the disastrous flooding in Pakistan shows nosigns of slowing.The worst moonsoons in eighty years have now left more than 2 million people homeless.Humantarian aid efforts are too slow in arriving.As victims of the floods increase daily the situation continous to worsen.

Angelina jolie visit to pakistan for flood victims

JALOZAI, Pakistan (AP) — American movie star Angelina Jolie met flood victims in northwestern Pakistan and appealed to the international community to provide aid needed to help the country recover from its worst natural disaster.The flow of aid money has stalled in recent days, and officials expressed hope the two-day visit by Jolie — who serves as a "goodwill ambassador" for the U.N.'s refugee agency — will convince foreign countries and individuals to open their wallets.The 35-year-old actress

Provide Contributions for Pakistani Flood Victims

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has partnered with mGive again to allow mobile contributions for the flood victims in Pakistan. 

UNHCR emergency response teams are distributing tents, relief supplies, and humanitarian assistance to an estimated 200,000 people displaced by the recent flooding. 

Last week's torrential rain and the following flash floods have affected more than 1.5 million people in Northwestern Pakistan. Water-borne disease is a major concern at this time.

In Balochistan, UNHCR is delivering 4,000 tents, 2,700 plastic sheets, 2,200 kitchen sets, and 4,000 plastic mats to the hardest hit areas. So far, in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, UNHCR is also distributing 3,000 tens in Nowshera District

Pakistan flood victims set for winter in camps

Thousands of people displaced by huge floods in Pakistan are likely to spend the winter in camps, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday, dashing hopes that all survivors might return home swiftly.

"Three months after floods hit Pakistan, UNHCR believes tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of people will have to remain in camps throughout the winter," said Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR.

"Those hardest hit by the flooding – people affected by extreme poverty, loss of livelihoods and other vulnerabilities – may need camp accommodation even longer," he told journalists.

Edwards blamed the delay on the persistence of more than one meter of standing waters in southern Baluchistan and Sindh provinces.

"Earlier in the emergency, the expectation was that camps would be short-lived and that people would return to their areas of origin with their tents to rebuild," he said.

More camps are being set up in south Pakistan, while demand for blankets and quilts was growing as winter approaches.

The floods in July affected 21 million people, and 7.2 million are still affected in one way or another, the U.N. estimates.

The World Health Organization said that 141 cases of cholera, which can be carried by contaminated water, have been confirmed in the flood-hit areas.

"Cases of cholera are being reported sporadically and intensive efforts are ongoing to both prevent new cases and provide treatment for people suffering from diarrhoeal diseases, such as cholera," said WHO spokesman Paul Garwood.

Cholera is endemic in Pakistan, according to the U.N. health agency.

CAUSES

Current flooding is blamed on unprecedented moonson rain.The rainfall announced by NASA shows unusual intense moonsoon rains.On 21 June .the Pakistan Meteotological  Department cautioned that urban and flash flooding could occur from July to September in the north parts of the country .
               The same Department recorded above -average rainfall in the months of July and August 2010 and monitored the fllod wave progression .......Some of the discharge levels recorded are comparable to those seen during the floods of 1998,1995,and1997.

The 2010 Pakistan flood began in july 2010 following heavy moonsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Sindh,Punjab&Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin.

              At one point approximately one fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater.

According to Pakistan government data the floods affected 20 million people mostly by destruction of property.livelihood and infrastructure with a death toll of close to 2000.The number of individual affected by flooding exceeds the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 tsunami Indian ocean the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti 2010 earthquake.