Pakistan floods a megadisaster of epic proportions

[babylonsister]

Pakistan floods a megadisaster of epic proportions
U.N. says more people are affected than 3 other major catastrophes


Khalid Tanveer / AP

Houses are half submerged in floodwater in Mithan Kot, in central Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 9.
By SEBASTIAN ABBOT
updated 8/9/2010 1:06:00 PM ET



ISLAMABAD — The number of people suffering from the massive floods in Pakistan exceeds 13 million — more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United Nations said Monday.

The death toll in each of those three disasters was much higher than the 1,500 people killed so far in the floods that first hit Pakistan two weeks ago. But the U.N. estimates that 13.8 million people have been affected — over 2 million more than the other disasters combined.

The comparison helps frame the scale of the crisis, which the prime minister said Monday was the worst in Pakistan's history. It has overwhelmed the government, generating widespread anger from flood victims who have complained that aid is not reaching them quickly enough or at all.

"The number of people affected by the floods is greater than the other three disasters combined," Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told The Associated Press.

A person is considered affected by the floods if he or she will need some form of assistance to recover, either short-term humanitarian aid or longer-term reconstruction help, said Giuliano.

The total number of people affected in the three other disasters was about 11 million — 5 million in the tsunami and 3 million in each of the earthquakes — said Giuliano.


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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38621584/ns/weather/

[jwirr]

1. And think of the possibility of disease from the polluted water when

the waters recede. This could be a long term disaster.

[babylonsister]

2. Disaster Fatigue?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/disaster-in-pakistan-oh-who-cares-about.html

Disaster Fatigue?

by digby

snip//

(I)t is worth noting that as of 1 pm EST there is not a single, solitary mention of the biggest humanitarian disaster in recent history on the homepages of the Washington Post or New York Times.

I honestly don't know why nobody gives a damn about this one. But we probably should, for more reasons than just the humanitarian tragedy, which is enough. But considering that this country is the focus of our foreign policy, the key to the Afghanistan war effort, the nexus of Islamic fanaticism and an unstable nuclear power, ignoring it would not seem to be a good idea