flash floods from monsoon rains impact northwest pakistan again august 1-17, 2013

FLASH FLOODS FROM MONSOON RAINS IMPACT NORTHWEST

PAKISTAN AGAIN

AUGUST 1-17, 2013

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA 

Summer floods are common as a result of monsoon rains that swell

rivers and streams across Pakistan.

IN VIEW OF PAST FLOODING DISASTERS, PAKISTAN’S

GOVERNMENT CRITICIZED FOR LACK OF FLOOD DISASTER

RESILIENCE MEASURES

SOCIETAL IMPACTS

Monsoon rains have triggered flash floods and landslides in different parts of northwestern Pakistan, blocking roads, flooding streams and washing away houses and crops.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS

• More than 81,000 people affected

• Hundreds dead.

• Health care issues.

AERIAL VIEW

VILLAGES OVERWHELMED

INUNDATION PARALYSIS

EVACUATION

INNOVATION

RESCUE

TRYING TO SURVIVE

A TEMPORARY SHELTER

RECOVERY: A CHALLENGE!

FLASHBACK TO 2010

NORTHWEST PAKISTAN (AND AFGHANISTAN) HIT BY

CATASTROPHIC FLOODING AFTER PROLONGED

MONSOON RAINS

JULY 28-AUGUST 23, 2010

[NOTE: War and Ramadan (which began on Aug 12) were major hinderances]

ONE-FIFTH OF PAKISTAN AFFECTED

2010’s floods, which began in May and continued through August, were

the worst in 80 years, setting records in the province of

KhyberPakhtunkhwa, parts of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir

region, and the eastern province of Punjab.

In Afghanistan, NATO and Afghan troops flew dramatic helicopter rescue missions in militant-held

territory, displaying "acts of heroism that were awe inspiring," according to a spokesman for the Combined Air Power Transition

Force.

Over 1,600 Pakistanis died (and probably many more) and more than 20,000,000 were impacted, including 3,500,000 children, as rains swelled rivers, inundated

villages, and triggered landslides, causing entire villages, roads, and

bridges to be swept away and leaving some areas isolated.

The survival of some of the poorest of the poor living in the districts of Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar,

Swat, and Lower Dir became problematic very early because of

the prolonged, catastrophic nature of the monsoon rains and flooding.

The United Nations announced Saturday, July 31, that they would

provide $10 million dollars for immediate emergency assistance

and would appeal for 460 million for an emergency effort to provide

food, medicine, water, and shelter, especially for 3.5 million children.

International response to the appeal of the United Nations for $460

million was unusually slow due, in part, to global economic problems.

The USA provided $60 million for immediate emergency assistance

along with Navy and Marine helicopters, rescue boats, water

filtration units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged

meals, which Pakistani soldiers tossed from helicopters

The rains paused on Monday, August 2, for a time, but survival for thousands was already a race with

time as evacuation, search and rescue, mass care (food, clean water, and short- and long-term health care to

prevent disease) were severely hindered by the widespread

inundation and loss of infrastructure.

On August 12th, Pakistan’s President Zardari made his first trip to Sukkur to view the flood impacts

and to assure angry citizens concerned that they had been

abandoned, that the Government was working very hard to obtain

international relief.

The people protested to the government, because they

perceived that the urgent need adequate temporary shelters,

and clean drinking water and toilets to avert a public health catastrophe

was NOT being met.

PROTESTERS: NOWSHERA

By August 12th, rain-swollen rivers were receding, but the disaster was

still growing because many of Pakistan’s poorest of the poor families had not only lost their

homes, but also the ability to feed themselves, and were now threatened with disease..

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: INUNDATED

FLOOD SWOLLEN RIVER: MINGORA, SWAT

MUZAFFARABAD: RISING FLOOD WATERS

THOUSANDS OF MUD BRICK HOMES COLLAPSED

NOWSHERA: DAMAGED MUD HOUSE

TRYING TO DIVERT WATER

LOSS OF INFRASTRUCTURE HINDERED EMERGENCY RESPONSE

OVER 3.5 MILLION CHILDREN IMPACTED

COLLAPSED HOUSE

THESE LIVESTOCK WERE SAVED, BUT THOUSANDS DROWNED

PESHAWAR: MELONS BECAME PRECIOUS

CLINGING TO DEBRIS

NOWSHERA: SEEKING HIGHER GROUND

SEEKING HIGHER GROUND

SEEKING A SAFE HAVEN

THIS EVACUATION FROM CHARSADDA WAS DIFFICULT

EVACUATION WAS DIFFICULT EVERYWHERE

NOWSHERA: EVACUATION

NOWSHERA: EVACUATION TO A SAFE HAVEN

EVACUATE WITH WHAT CAN BE CARRIED

EVACUATE WITH WHAT CAN BE CARRIED

EVACUATE WITH WHAT CAN BE CARRIED

EVACUAE WITH WHAT CAN BE CARRIED

MUZAFFARABAD: INADEQUATE TEMPORARY SHELTER

INADEQUATE TEMPORARY SHELTER

ADEQUATE TEMPORARY SHELTER?

30,000 Pakistani troops rescued 28,000 people using helicopters and other means, and distributed water

and food.

WAITING FOR FOOD

NOWSHERA: PAKISTANI ARMY DISTRIBUTING WATER

FOOD LINE IN PUNJAB PROVINCE: AUGUST 20

FOOD LINE IN PUNJAB PROVINCE: AUGUST 20