More on Pakistan flooding and the forecast heavy rains

Heavy rains forecast for Pakistan for the rest of the week will only make matters worse. The water surely will not be able to fall and might become more destructive. Much of the relief efforts may also need to be put on hold during the downpours.

From Reuters AlertNet, writer Waseem Sattar gives us the latest on the Pakistan flooding.

"We're forecasting widespread rains in the country, especially in flood-affected areas," Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, director general of the department, told Reuters.

The floods have stoked popular anger at absent President Asif Ali Zardari, who went ahead with state visits to Europe at the height of the disaster, which swallowed up entire villages, killed over 1,600 and devastated the lives of more than 4 million people.

The floods have also inundated crop-producing areas, dealing a crippling blow to the agricultural-based economy and threatening a food crisis.

Floods are expected to inflict heavy suffering in southern Sindh province after roaring down from the northwest and through the agricultural heartland Punjab province. Authorities have evacuated more than half a million people in Sindh.