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Death toll mounts from Pakistan floods, thousands displaced
Written by: Megan Rowling
Residents look at floods on the outskirts of Peshawar, August 4, 2008.
REUTERS/Ali Imam
REUTERS/Ali Imam
The death toll from flash floods that hit parts of north and east Pakistan on Monday has risen to more than 100, according German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur. Most of the casualties were in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and neighbouring tribal areas near the Afghan border, where roofs collapsed and the flooding destroyed several hundred mud houses, DPA said, citing the Urdu-language Express newspaper. The Pakistani paper reported that 25 people died when three rescue boats capsized near Peshawar. The head of the provincial flood warning centre at Izat Khan told Dawn newspaper that overflowing rivers had devastated an area with a radius of 15 to 18 km. The Daily Times newspaper said at least 12 people were killed in flash floods that also destroyed crops in the eastern province of Punjab. Associated Press news agency reported that 3,200 homes had been destroyed and 82,000 people displaced in Punjab, with vast areas of agricultural land flooded by the heavier-than-usual annual monsoon rains. Dawn News TV reported that the impact of the floods was greater than officials had suggested, and hundreds of thousands had been displaced, according to AP. A Red Cross spokesperson in Geneva told AlertNet that teams had been sent out on Monday to assess the damage. This Red Cross map shows the areas affected by the monsoon floods. Dawn newspaper said the army had launched a relief operation, sending in helicopters and boats to rescue marooned people. Local emergency services distributed 1,000 tents and blankets to those left homeless, and asked the National Disaster Management Authority to send 10,000 more tents, it reported. According to DPA, authorities said the scale of the damage was high because there had been no effective warning. On Tuesday morning, the Pakistan Meterological Department forecast widespread thunderstorms and rain with moderate to heavy falls in isolated places over North Punjab and Kashmir. It said thundershowers were also expected in scattered areas over NWFP, South Punjab and Balochistan. Overall, it forecast a decline in the wet spell over the next two days.
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