(NEWS BRIEF) UN: AREA HIT BY FLOODS IN PAKISTAN BIGGER THAN ENGLAND

(HN, AUGUST 28, 2010) - The area inundated by flood waters continues to increase and the number of people affected by the disaster is climbing. The number of people significantly affected is almost 17.2 million, with 8 million needing urgent humanitarian aid.

At a United Nations media briefing Friday in Geneva monitored by HUMNEWS, officials said an area of more than 160,000 square kilometres – greater than the entire size of England - has now been ravaged by floods since exceptionally heavy monsoon rains began falling in Pakistan late last month.

The agricultural sector has been severely hit, with some 3.4 million heads of cattle lost.

John Holmes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, says the logistics of reaching isolated affected populations with aid is the main challenge; the response plan needs to be revised because the initial figures underestimated the number of people suffering from the disaster. 

Mr. Holmes added that about 70 per cent of the $ 460 million initially sought by the UN and its humanitarian partners for flood relief had either been contributed or pledged so far. He emphasized the importance of reviving the agricultural sector as soon as the emergency humanitarian operations ended, as the situation of food security and the economy of Pakistan depends on that sector.

Click here for a map of the current flood situation: OCHA Map