It has been estimated that almost twenty million lives have been turned upside down by the recent floods in Pakistan. The Christian aid group, World Vision Pakistan, has said that the response required from aid groups around the world is “almost incomprehensible” to imagine.
Anita Cole, program development and quality director for World Vision Pakistan, said that they are assessing circumstances in the Southern district of Sindh and preparing human and financial resources in response to the floods once immediate perils are over. The area affected by the flood is roughly the size of Italy.
The flooding began two weeks ago and since then almost 900,000 homes have been destroyed and billions of dollars worth of crops and food stores have been damaged. 2 million people are now homeless and more than 1,500 are dead.
“This has been a heart-wrenching day for me,” admitted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to reporters on Sunday after visiting the affected regions with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.
“I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this.”
“The scale of this disaster is so large so many people, in so many places, in so much need.”
World Vision has already distributed food and water to more than 21,000 people. Soon it plans to distribute water purification packets and hygiene kits to 150,000 people, tents to 22,500, cooking items to 75,000, and food to at least 37,500 people. The agency has also opened five emergency health clinics and treated more than 1,100 people who are suffering from water-borne diseases and other illnesses related to the floods.
The United Nations is seeking $459 million to help provide Pakistan’s flood-affected families with food, clean drinking water, shelter, medicine, and non-food items. As of Saturday, the U.N. stated that is has received only 20 percent of this total.
The flooding has followed several powerful earthquakes that devastated regions of Pakistan. Reports say that what little recoveries had been made after the earthquakes were swept away by the flood. What is even more concerning is that more rain is expected over the next few weeks as Pakistan faces its monsoon season.