Disaster beyond a disaster as sheer scale of Pakistan flooding becomes clear, leaving thousands stranded, hungry, and with a health crisis looming

FAMILIES in Pakistan are being left stranded and hungry as access to food and medical supplies are blocked by the rising flood waters, risking a health catastrophe, the DEC is warning. 

Many communities have no choice but to live in stagnant waters, cut off from access to vital services, at risk of deadly water borne diseases including cholera, as well as malaria and snake bites. 

One man, Roaan Ali said: “We rushed here at 2 am when the floods came. Now we’re stranded: there’s no path to get out. We’re helpless and in desperate need of food. We have nothing. No hut to sleep in, no tent, nothing to eat. All our houses, our cattle, our wheat, are drowned and underwater.” 

Medical care is in short supply with 432 facilities destroyed and 1,028 partially damaged, and access to essential medicines limited.  

Over the past week as rainfall has worsened the flooding, the number of people injured has risen from 1,500 to over 12,700 and the number of homes damaged or destroyed from 1m to 1.6m. 

The number of people affected (33m, or 1 in 7 Pakistanis) has already far overtaken the floods in 2010 (22m), according to DEC member agency Save the Children. Then 78 districts were flooded, compared with over 110 today.  

Now a further potential disaster awaits as Lake Manchar, Pakistan’s biggest lake, is on the verge of bursting its banks and causing further flooding, despite attempts to lower water levels. Already 100,000 people have been displaced from the area. 

Last week the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an urgent appeal to raise funds to help those in desperate need of assistance with one third of the country underwater. Already over £18 million has been raised.   

Aid is getting through via the DEC’s 11 member agencies on the ground but distribution is hampered by the huge levels of floodwater, with residents in some areas reporting them as deep as 8 feet. Further donations can help get aid to the people who need it. 

The DEC has heard reports of families in Sindh province, one of the worst affected areas, escaping their homes onto higher ground but then unable to reach aid on the roadside because of the huge water levels in front of them. 

Samama Muhammad, from Sindh province said: "The floods came in the middle of the night. We only had time to save ourselves. We are empty-handed, sitting under the sky. No help has reached us here: any help that comes is taken by the people at the roadside. We can’t reach the help that is at the roadside." 

During the flooding, food stocks and supplies were swept away, over 3.6 million acres and over three quarters of a million livestock lost, leaving people in need of food support in the immediate and longer term. Sindh province produces half the country’s food supply, raising concerns of serious shortages. 

The UN estimates that nearly three quarters of affected households lack the resources to buy food. 

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “This is a disaster on a catastrophic scale, this level of immense flooding has not been seen before and seems to be getting worse, with further heavy rainfall on its way. To make matters more desperate. Lake Manchar is dangerously close to bursting its banks and threatens even more lives. 

“Families are fighting for survival in near impossible conditions out in the open and need food and emergency supplies. Just imagine what it would be like to suddenly have everything washed away in an instant.  

“11 of our member charities are on the ground and already responding with local partners.  Please donate today to help them deliver emergency aid and to reach more people who are in a dire situation and in great need of assistance. 

DEC members have also warned of a looming health crisis as millions lack access to basic sanitation and clean drinking water. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the situation as a grade 3 emergency - the highest level in its grading system. 

Agencies including Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and British Red Cross are establishing medical camps and mobile health clinics, providing clean drinking water, working to prevent the spread of water borne diseases and distributing hygiene kits including menstrual hygiene items.  

Dr Fatima Amin, Head of Health and Nutrition at Action Against Hunger in Pakistan, said: “The combination of communities surrounded by large areas of contaminated water, damage to clean water supplies and sanitation systems, and hot, humid weather threatens a massive secondary public health emergency. It is young children, in particular, who are most at risk from deadly waterborne diseases, including cholera and vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. 

“The burden of malnourishment is also increasing due to decreased access to nutritious food. As a consequence, we are seeing a growing number of children accessing our stabilisation centres. These are centres that provide lifesaving support for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition.” 

Broadcast appeals for donations to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal were made by activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and by actor, writer and broadcaster Adil Ray OBE, last week. 

Adil Ray said:     

“The scale of devastation is both shocking and unprecedented; over a third of the country is under water. More than 33 million people have been affected. Many people have lost everything and urgently need lifesaving aid. Donations to the DEC will help its member charities on the ground providing immediate relief, from food and shelter to clean water and medical assistance. I urge the public to help – please donate if you can. Any amount will help families in desperate need.”  

ENDS   

Notes to editors:       

Media enquiries or to arrange an interview please call 020 7387 0200 or 07930 999 014 (out of hours) or email pressofficemanager@dec.org.uk       

A collection of recent images and footage is available here.  

About the DEC: The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities at times of crisis overseas to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response. The DEC’s 15 member charities are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.        

Eleven of the DEC’s 15 member charities are confirmed to be responding either directly or through trusted local partners and will receive funds from this appeal, with others currently assessing the situation. The 11 members responding so far are Action Against Hunger, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK and Tearfund.  

The UK government has matched, pound for pound, the first £5 million of public donations to the DEC Pakistan Appeal through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s UK Aid Match scheme. This is part of a £16.5m package of support to provide immediate help to people living in the most hard hit areas.   

Through UK Aid Match the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office gives the British public the opportunity to have a say in how the UK aid budget is spent whilst boosting the impact of the very best British charities to change and save the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. UK government match funding will double British public’s own donations to the DEC appeal up to £5 million and will ensure that DEC member charities working on the ground can reach even more people in need.  

UK Aid Match has increased the impact of a number of DEC appeals to help those in need around the world, including most recently to support people affected by the conflict in Ukraine and to provide life-saving humanitarian aid to people in desperate need in Afghanistan.   

Through UK Aid Match, FCDO gives the British public the opportunity to decide how the UK aid budget is spent and support people in desperate need by matching their donations pound-for-pound. 

Any queries about UK Aid Match should be directed to the FCDO news desk on 020 7008 3100 or newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk.  

How to donate:         

Online: dec.org.uk    

Phone: 0330 678 1000. Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply   

SMS: To donate £10 text SUPPORT to 70000. Texts cost £10 plus the standard network charge and the whole £10 goes to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal. You must be 16 or over and please ask the bill payer's permission. For full terms and conditions and more information go to www.dec.org.uk.   

Or donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque by post to DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.