When will it stop? by Barbora Misakova

Every time some floods or landslides cause death of people or other problems I have to think when will it come here? When torrential rains will hit also my city and change it into oblivion? I am afraid what will happen next. But today it is Pakistan facing my fears as it battles rising flood waters. As United Nations informed, there are some 800,000 people cut off by surging flood waters and are in desperate need of aid. Torrent of monsoon rains washed away bridges and vital access roads, so there is no other way to get to these people than by air. That is the reason, why United Nations launched an urgent appeal yesterday for more helicopters. According to the United Nation! s, this is Pakistan’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. It has affected more than 17 million people, five million people are still homeless and around 1,500 of them have been confirmed dead. As John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said: “this requires an extraordinary effort by the international community.” Except money that are needed, Pakistani officials are warning of country’s fertile southern plains that can in a very short time face the risk of more flooding as the major river threatens to burst its banks. “We are working on a war footing. This is an extraordinary flood and we are at war with the extraordinary floods.” said Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Sindh province’s irrigation minister. Villages were swept away, but what is worse, there is a fear of diseases. “As human misery continues to mount, we are seriously concerned about the spread of epidemic diseases.”! ; Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said. Millions of people a! re survi ving on aid handouts and are in desperate need of food, shelter and clean drinking water. And my only desperate question is: When will it stop?

related story (sgx18056): http://www.france24.com/en/20100825-pakistan-battles-floods-...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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