Pakistan; After the flood, 1st cholera case confirmed

[kiwibird]

Pakistan flood toll tops 900 as cholera emerges
AFP - 21 minutes agoSendIM StoryPrint.PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - ? The death toll from Pakistan's worst floods in living memory topped 900 on Sunday as outbreaks of waterborne disease emerged and penniless survivors sought refuge from the raging torrents.

A total of 862 people have been killed by monsoon rains, flash floods and landslides around the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and at least 47 have died in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials said.

Up to one million people have been affected in all, according to the UN, with thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland destroyed in a region of Pakistan already reeling from years of extremist bloodshed.

"This is the worst flood in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the country's history," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told AFP.

Hundreds of survivors were finding shelter in schools in Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan, and in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, after escaping the floods with children on their backs. Related article: Asia's deadliest floods of the past 20 years

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Pakistan's weather bureau said an "unprecedented" 312 millimetres (12 inches) of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the northwest but predicted only scattered showers during coming days.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, flash floods have killed at least 65 people and affected more than 1,000 families, officials said.

More than 3,700 houses have been swept away by the floods in Pakistan and the number of people made homeless is rising, the provincial minister said.

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"We are also getting confirmation of reports about an outbreak of cholera in some areas of Swat," Hussain added.

The army said it had sent boats and helicopters to rescue stranded people and its engineers were trying to open more roads and divert swollen rivers.

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The flooding capped a week of tragedy for Pakistan after an airliner crashed into hills near Islamabad Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board.
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100801/tap-pakistan-weather-floods-2a5be5e.html

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Pakistan; Flood toll tops 900 as cholera emerges

Re: Pakistan; Flood toll tops 900 as cholera emerges

Pakistan - Article published the Saturday 14 August 2010 - Latest update : Saturday 14 August 2010

Cholera confirmed as independence day celebrations scrapped

Villagers transporting a car after fleeing from flood water in Karampur
Photo : ReutersBy RFI
The United Nations confirmed the first case of cholera in flood-hit Pakistan on Saturday. At least one case of the water borne disease was identified by the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Mingora, the main town in north western district of Swat. Pakistani Prime Minister Tousuf Raza Gilani said on Saturday that 20 million people had been affected by the worst floods in the country?s history.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in the country later on Saturday to discuss relief efforts.

Gilani told the nation that more than 10 per cent of the country 170 million people had been affected.

?I would appeal to the world community to extend a helping hand to fight this calamity,? he said in a televised address.

The PM said billion of dollars of standing crops and food in storage had been destroyed, causing a ?colossal loss to [the] national economy?.

460 million dollars is the figure the UN is calling for to deal with the immediate aftermath of the floods, although charities say that amount falls far short of what is needed.

?Outbreak of epidemics in the flood-hit areas is a serious threat, which can further compound the already grave situation,? said Gilani.




Satellite photos of Nowshera in Pakistan. Left image October 2007, Right image August 2010
Photo: Reuters

Saturday?s independence day celebrations marking Pakistan?s 1947 break from British colonial rule have been scrapped by President Asif Ali Zardari, who arrived in Nowshera to see flooded areas and visit a briefing on the disaster.

?The best way to celebrate this day is to reach out to the victims of the natural disaster, heal their wounds and help them to help themselves,? Zardari said in his independence day message.

?I salute the courage and heroism of flood victims and assure them that the government will do everything possible to alleviate their suffering,? he added.

The death toll from the floods stands at 1,600, according to the UN. Two million people are in need of emergency shelter and six million are dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive.
http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-paci...firmed-independence-day-celebrations-scrapped