An embankment provides sanctuary for a family and its livestock. Photo: SSEWA-Pak/Tearfund
21 September 2011
The number of people affected by the floods in southern Pakistan has risen to 7.5 million, with the death toll increasing to nearly 350.
Heavy monsoon rains have left large parts of Sindh province deluged, damaging 1.4 million homes and forcing half a million people into emergency camps, with another 800,000 moving into makeshift shelters on higher ground.
With rain still falling, crops have been destroyed and food supplies are dwindling. The UN has launched an appeal for US$300 million to support relief aid.
Food, clean drinking water and decent shelter are the aid priorities for Tearfund’s team on the ground and our partners SSEWA-Pak and the Diocese of Hyderabad.
In all more than 45,000 people are being assisted with a combination of aid. Food, health kits, plastic sheeting, jerry cans and fodder for livestock are being provided, including 1,250 families receiving cash to provide for household needs.
Hammer blow
Ashraf Mall, Tearfund’s Country Representative for Pakistan, said, ‘These floods are another hammer blow to a region that is still recovering from last summer’s devastating floods.
‘However Tearfund partners and our operational team continue to offer hope and help to thousands of people affected by the flood waters, often in areas where there is little other help available.’
Among those being helped is Geno and Bhuri and their three children in the village of Gafar Chudhary Taluka Jamesabad.
Their home and crops were affected by the monsoon rains, forcing them to move to the higher ground of a canal embankment.
The stranded family were found by a SSEWA-Pak team which provided them with a month’s worth of food, mosquito nets and plastic sheeting for shelter.