Friday, August 13, 2010

One-fourth of Pakistan has flooded

The latest news from Pakistan says that one-fourth of the nation has flooded. There is no let up in sight for the country as monsoon season will continue for a few more weeks. Engineers in Pakistan are also worried that dams are unable to take on the water and may soon burst.

From this Associated Press article that we found at the Huffington Post, we receive more details on the latest from Pakistan.

A shipload of U.S. Marines and helicopters arrived to boost relief efforts in flooded Pakistan on Thursday, but the prime minister told The Associated Press his country needs more international help to cope with one of the worst natural disasters in its history.

The United Nations warned the crisis was far from over, saying dams in Sindh province could still burst in the coming days. More rain fell around the country, and monsoon season is forecast to last several weeks still.

Spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said U.N. officials roughly estimated that up to one-fourth of the country is or had been affected by the floods, though those areas were not necessarily under water.

The government has been sharply criticized for a slow and patchy response to the floods, which has killed 1,500 people left and left an estimated 7 million people needing emergency assistance, their homes destroyed, damaged or inundated with muddy water and unlivable.
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The United States has pledged $71 million in emergency assistance to the country, which is key in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban as well as stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan. It has also deployed the military to help, as it often does after major disasters.

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