A second wave of floods have inundated several areas in Balochistan even as the worst deluge in Pakistan’s history led to mass evacuation in Sindh regions where around 3.6 million people have been affected and over 600,000 displaced.
Flood water on Friday inundated new areas in Sindh where 1,447 relief camps have been set up and 610,614 affected are taking refuge there, according to officials.
The U.N. said “significantly more donor support” is needed to provide relief to the millions of people affected by the worst deluge in Pakistan’s history.
The cities of Shahdadkot, Qabu Saeed Khan, Mero Khan and Sajawal in Sindh were evacuated in the face of a flood torrent emanating from Garhi Kheru. The flood waters have already devastated hundreds of villages in the region.
The Flood Forecasting Division warned that the Indus river was in “very high flood” at Kotri Barrage in Sindh and that the situation could take a turn for the worse in the next two to three days.
Flows of over 700,000 cusecs were recorded at Kotri on Saturday and officials said the river could flood nearby low-lying areas in the next few days.
In Balochistan, hundreds of thousands of people took shelter on rooftops and high ground after a high flood tide entered Gandhaka area of Jaffarabad district. The high flood in Mola river posed a threat to Jhal Magsi and Gandahwa areas.
Despite rescue missions mounted by army helicopters and boats, a large number of people were stranded in flooded areas. The flood waters destroyed hundreds of houses and washed away cattle and crops on thousands of acres.
The Gandhaka grid station, government installations and roads were submerged. There were also reports of flood victims suffering from cholera and gastro-enteritis.
Hospitals and medical camps were facing an acute shortage of medicines, officials said. There were also reports of deaths from various areas. In Nowsheran Virkan, two boys drowned while bathing in flood waters.
Due to inadequate disaster management planning the situation in the relief camps set up in Karachi and on its outskirts has also worsened with thousands said to be deprived of basic facilities.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of two children from flood waters near Basira town, 15 km from Muzaffargarh in Punjab.
The children were among the passengers of a bus that had fallen into flood waters.
Director Operations Disaster Management Authority (DMA) Sindh Khair Muhammad Kalhoro said that 3.684237 million people have become victims of the destruction unleashed by the devastating floods in Sindh.
The numbers show that the floods perished 126,216 livestock and ripe crops spreading on a land area of 1.555359 acres. The floods in Pakistan have caused a catastrophic calamity with around 2,000 people killed in the floods in the country.
