2010 Pakistan Floods 1 2010 Pakistan Floods

2010 Pakistan floods 1 2010 Pakistan floods 2010 Pakistan floods A NASA satellite image showing the Indus River at the time of floods Duration: Current, started on 26 July 2010 [1] Damages: $43 billion (estimated) [2] Fatalities: 2,000+ Areas affected: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan. Present estimates indicate that over two thousand people[2] have died and over a million homes have been destroyed since the flooding began.[3] The United Nations estimates that more than 21 million[4] people are injured or homeless as a result of the flooding, exceeding the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[5] At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater due to the flooding.[6] [7] [8] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked for an initial $460 million for emergency relief, noting that the flood was the worst disaster he had ever seen. 50% of the relief funds requested has been received as of 15 August 2010.[9] The U.N. is concerned that aid is not arriving fast enough, while the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water.[10] The Pakistani economy has been harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops.[11] Structural damages are estimated to exceed 4 billion USD, and wheat crop damages are estimated to be over 500 million USD.[12] Officials estimate the total economic impact to be as much as 43 billion USD.[13] [14] Causes Current flooding is blamed on unprecedented monsoon rain.[15] The rainfall anomaly map published by NASA shows unusually intense monsoon rains attributed to La Niña.[16] On 21 June, the Pakistan Meteorological Department cautioned that urban and flash flooding could occur from July to September in the north parts of the country.[17] The same department recorded above-average rainfall in the months of July and August 2010,[18] and monitored the flood wave progression.[19] Some of the discharge levels recorded are comparable to those seen during 2010 Pakistan floods 2 the floods of 1988, 1995, and 1997.[20] An article in the New Scientist[21] attributed the cause of the exceptional rainfall to "freezing" of the jet stream, a phenomenon that reportedly also caused an unprecedented heat wave and wildfires in Russia as well as the 2007 United Kingdom floods.[22] Flooding and impact Floods Monsoon rains were forecast to continue into early August and were described as the worst in this area in the last 80 years.[23] The Pakistan Meteorological Department said that over 200 mm (7.88 inches) of rain fell over a 24-hour period over a number of places of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and more was expected.[24] A record-breaking 274 mm (10.7 inches) rain fell in Peshawar during 24 hours,[25] previously 187 mm (7.36 inches) of rain was recorded in April 2009.[26] So far 500,000 or more people have been displaced from their homes.[23] On 30 July, Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that 36 districts were involved, and 950,000 people were affected,[27] although within a day, reports increased that number to as high as a million,[28] and by mid-August to nearly 20 million affected.[29] The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial minister of information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said "the infrastructure of this province was already destroyed by terrorism. Whatever was left was finished off by these floods."[30] He also called the floods "the worst calamity in our history."[31] Four Satellite images of the upper Indus River valley comparing water-levels [32] on 1 August 2009 (top) and 31 July 2010 (bottom) million Pakistanis were left with food shortages. Officials have warned that the death toll could rise, as many towns and villages are not accessible, and communications have been disrupted. In some areas, the water level was 5.5 m (18 ft) high and residents were seen on roof-tops waiting for aid to arrive.[31] At least 1,588 people have been injured, 222,600 houses and 4,600 villages have been damaged or destroyed.[33] The Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, was closed after a bridge was destroyed.[34] The ongoing devastating floods in Pakistan will have a severe impact on an already vulnerable population, says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition to all the other damages the floods have caused, floodwater have destroyed much of the health care infrastructure in the worst-affected areas, leaving inhabitants especially vulnerable to water-borne disease.[35] In Sindh, the Indus River burst its banks near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi.[32] There is also an absence of law and order, mainly in Sindh. Looters have been taking advantage of the floods by ransacking abandoned homes using boats.[36] 2010 Pakistan floods 3 In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely-affected northern regions toward western Punjab, where at least 1,400,000 acres (unknown operator: u',' ha) of cropland was destroyed,[32] and the southern province of Sindh.[37] The crops affected were cotton, sugarcane, rice, pulses, tobacco and animal fodder. Floodwaters and rain destroyed 700,000 acres ( km2) of cotton, 200000 acres (800 km2) acres each of rice and cane, 500,000 tonnes of wheat and 300000 acres (1000 km2) of animal fodder.[38] [39] According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, the floods destroyed 2 million bales of Affected areas as of August 26, 2010 cotton, which led to an increase in futures of the commodity in international market.[40] [41] 170,000 citizens (or 70% of the population) of the historic Sindh town of Thatta fled advancing flood waters on 27 August 2010.[42] Pakistani authorities predicted that additional rainfall was expected to trigger two further waves of flooding in the mid-August, inundating more land and swallowing more villages. One of these new flood surges was sweeping down from mountainous areas in the north as of August 11, and was expected to hit highly populated areas in the coming days, while the second wave was being formed in the mountains.[43] Heavy rainfalls recorded during the wet spell of July 2010 Heavy rainfalls of more than 200 millimetres (7.9 in) recorded during the four day wet spell of July 27 to July 30, 2010 in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab based on data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department.[25] City Rainfall (mm) Rainfall (in) Province Notes Risalpur *415 16.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Islamabad 394 15.5 Islamabad Capital Territory [25] Murree 373 14.6 Punjab [25] Cherat *372 14.6 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Garhi Dopatta 346 13.6 Azad Kashmir [25] Saidu Sharif *338 13.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Peshawar *333 13.1 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Kamra 308 12.1 Punjab [25] Rawalakot 297 11.7 Azad Kashmir [25] 2010 Pakistan floods 4 Muzaffarabad 292 11.5 Azad Kashmir [25] Lahore 288 11.3 Punjab [25] Mianwali *271 10.6 Punjab [25] Jhelum 269 10.6 Punjab [25] Lower Dir 263 10.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Kohat *262 10.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Balakot 256 10.0 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Sialkot 255 10.0 Punjab [25] Pattan 242 9.5 Azad Kashmir [25] DIR 231 9.10 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Gujranwala 222 8.7 Punjab [25] Dera Ismail Khan 220 8.6 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [25] Rawalpindi 219 8.6 Punjab [25] * Indicates new record. Aftermath The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000 transmission lines and transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood-hit areas. Flood water inundated Jinnah Hydro power and 150 power houses in Gilgit. The damage caused a power shortfall of 3.135 gigawatt.[44] Aid agencies have warned that outbreaks of diseases, such as: gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and skin diseases due to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation can pose a serious new risk to flood victims.[45] [46] On 14 August, the first documented case of cholera emerged in the town of Mingora, striking fear into millions of stranded flood victims, who are already suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhea.[47] [48] [49] It has been reported by the International Red Cross that a large number of unexploded ordinance, such as mines and artillery shells, have been flushed down stream by the floods from areas in Kashmir and Waziristan and scattered in low lying areas, posing a future risk to returning inhabitants.[50] The United Nations estimated that 800,000 people have been cut off by floods in Pakistan and are only reachable by air. It also stated that at least 40 more helicopters are needed to ferry lifesaving aid to increasingly desperate people. Many of those cut off are in the mountainous northwest, where roads and bridges have been swept away.[51] By order of President Asif Ali Zardari, there were no official celebrations of Pakistan's 63rd Independence Day on 14 August, due to the calamity the country faces.[52] Potential long term effects Food Floods have submerged 17 million acres (69000 km2) of Pakistan's most fertile crop land, have killed 200,000 herd of livestock and have washed away massive amounts of grain. A major concern is that farmers will be unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds in 2010, which implies a massive loss of food production in 2011, and potential long term food shortages.[53] The agricultural damages are more than 2.9 billion dollars, according to recent 2010 Pakistan floods 5 estimates, and include over 700000 acres (2800 km2) of lost cotton crops, 200000 acres (810 km2) of sugar cane and 200000 acres (810 km2) of rice, in addition to the loss of over 500,000 tonnes of stocked wheat, 300000 acres (1200 km2) of animal fodder and the stored grain losses.[54] [55] Agricultural crops such as cotton, rice, and sugarcane and to some extent mangoes were badly affected in Punjab, according to a Harvest Tradings-Pakistan spokesman.

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