SUKKUR: The United Nations is launching an appeal to help 13.8 million people hit by one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters after floods paralyzed parts of Pakistan and raised fears of disease.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the disaster had eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti put together.
About 1.5 million people have been evacuated in the south and 1.5 million hectares of valuable farmland destroyed in central Punjab province while the worst hit has been the northwest, already struggling with Taliban violence.
"We will soon issue an appeal for several hundred million dollars to respond to immediate needs," UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced.
The Pakistani government and UN officials have appealed for more urgent relief efforts to cope with the catastrophe, saying that billions of dollars will be needed to restore livelihoods and rebuild infrastructure.
Parts of the northwestern Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, were still cut off Tuesday by road as were parts of the country’s breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.
"This is a major disaster of enormous magnitude," said UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes.
"Needs are huge and still rising. The humanitarian effort needs to be scaled up accordingly, as fast as we can."
Weather cleared Tuesday, allowing 23 Pakistani, and six US military and four Afghan helicopters to help distribute relief items and rescue people stranded in the northwest, said one military official.
OCHA spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said the 13.8 million affected outstripped the more than three million hit by the 2005 earthquake, five million in the 2004 tsunami and the three million affected by the Haiti earthquake in January.
The United Nations has warned that children are among the most vulnerable with diarrhea the biggest health threat and measles a serious concern.
The world body estimates 1,600 people have died in Pakistan’s floods and the Pakistani government has confirmed 1,243 deaths. About 220,000 were killed in the December 2004 tsunami in Asia.
In the south, Sindh provincial irrigation minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, said 1.5 million people had been evacuated from affected areas.
There are warnings in towns and cities for people to remain on alert, but water levels were beginning to drop at the Guddu barrage and the meteorological office has forecast scattered rain in the next 24 hours.
"The danger is still there. The army is doing its best to strengthen embankments along the river and canals," Dharego told AFP.
Ban also stressed the need to consider medium- and long-term assistance to Pakistan, warning that this "will be a major and protracted task."
Food prices are skyrocketing, compounding the misery as the floods ravage the country’s most fertile lands and wipe out crops.
"Roads are closed. Fields are under water and it has affected the markets badly," Amir Zada, 35, a fruit and vegetable seller in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The UN said donors have already provided 38.2 million dollars while a further 90.9 million has been promised, but on the ground Islamic charities with suspected extremist links have been far more visible in the relief effort.
US military helicopters supporting relief and rescue operations have rescued more than 1,000 people, the White House said Monday.
In the northern Sindh city of Sukkur, fears were rising that flood waters would reach town despite reassurances from the authorities.
"For the last three nights I have not have a good sleep as the water level in the river is constantly increasing. I do not know whether it is safe here or not," shopkeeper Allah Rakhio told AFP.
Survivors have lashed out at authorities for failing to come to their rescue, piling pressure on Pakistan’s cash-strapped administration straining to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.
President Asif Ali Zardari courted massive criticism for not returning from Britain and France at a time of national disaster. One protester threw a shoe at him in England. On Monday, he stopped off in Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad.
