New York, NY (BBN)– With monsoon rains expected to continue pummeling Pakistan for several more weeks, the United Nations warned today that the country’s south could also be affected by deadly flooding, which has already affected millions of people.
Martin Mogwanja, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan, told reporters in New York via telephone today that the devastation wrought by the current flooding is on par with that caused by the earthquake that struck the country in 2005, a UN press statement said.
Mogwanja said that the floods – the worst in Pakistan in living memory – have affected 4 million people so far, with at least 1.5 million people having lost their homes.
He also said that 1,400 people have been killed so far, “but this number may rise as new bodies may be found.”
The monsoon season, he pointed out, could last up to four more weeks, with the possibility that the flooding – currently concentrated in northern Pakistan – could move south towards the Indian Ocean, affecting millions more people. Already, the central areas of Sindh province in the south have felt the effects of flooding.
The search-and-rescue and evacuation phase has come to an end, with many people having been moved to safer areas by helicopters and boats.
UN agencies have been rushing relief to the area since the early days of the disaster.
BBN/SSR/SI/AD-07Aug10-11:54 am (BST)
