Devastating floods in Pakistan. The country’s record rainfall this summer has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-June and affected more than 33 million people. 6.4 million people in need of immediate support.
According to PDMA:
1350 people have died
50M people displaced
900k livestock deaths
1M houses washed away
40+ reservoirs breached
220+ bridges collapsed
90% cropped damaged
$10b loss to economy
1/3 country under water
The floods could cost Pakistan, which had already been battling an economic crisis, more than $10 billion, the country’s finance minister said, according to Bloomberg News. Officials spent the past week appealing for international aid.
The International Monetary Fund said this week it would release $1.1 billion to the country. The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund said it had allocated $3 million to U.N. agencies and partners in Pakistan for health, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation services in flood-affected areas. The U.S. Agency for International Development said earlier this month that it is providing $100,000 in humanitarian assistance.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “The magnitude of the calamity is bigger than estimated.” He wrote on Twitter that while a full picture of the destruction was still being compiled, the continuing rain had “caused devastation across the country” with loses comparable to catastrophic flooding in 2010. That disaster affected 18 million people and killed 1,985.
Countries around the world and international institutions are now helping Pakistan to recover.