Emergency Appeal Launched As Satellite Images Show A Third Of Pakistan Underwater Humanitarian Response

As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appealed for funds to be raised for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data recorded by the Copernicus satellite. These pictures appear to confirm the Pakistani government’s assessment that more than a third of the country – an area roughly the size of the UK – has been submerged by monsoon rains, estimated to have been 10 times heavier than usual. “The Indus River overflowed, effectively creating a large lake tens of kilometers wide,” Esa said in a statement. The floods claimed more than 1,100 lives, including 399 children, destroyed more than a million homes and washed away crops, livestock and important infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Data captured by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus satellite on August 30 was used to map the extent of the floods currently ravaging Pakistan. Photo: ESA On Thursday, Saleh Saeed, chief executive of DEC, the umbrella organization for 15 of the UK’s leading charities, pleaded with the British public to help. “Timing is critical, with conditions expected to worsen as the rains continue,” he said. “We urge everyone: please give what you can.” Care Pakistan’s Maryam Imtiaz said it was clear the emergency was “not under control”. “The situation on the ground is absolutely catastrophic… We need as much help as we can get,” he added. Aid workers are battling enormous logistical challenges to reach millions of people in need, particularly in southeastern Sindh province where water levels remain high. Even in areas where the water has receded slightly, aid distribution is complicated by damaged roads, downed power lines and blocked railways. “[It] means humanitarian organizations struggle – it’s a challenge to get aid from A to B,” said Waseem Ahmad, CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide. “And also the goods available for relief services and people are decreasing [in quantity].” Speaking from the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ahmad said he was in the country for the 2010 floods, which killed nearly 2,000 people, but this was worse. “The situation… is absolute chaos everywhere. People are on the side of the road, waiting for humanitarian aid like water, food, shelter, and this is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan. In my 22 years of experience as [a] aid worker, I have never seen such devastation caused by floods.’ He had met a woman whose house and animals had been swept away, he said. “He pointed to a place [that] it was her home. All I could see there was water. And this is the scale of the devastation unfolding in Pakistan.” Another humanitarian on the ground, Ajeeba Aslam, of HelpAge International, said 2.3 million of the 33 million people affected are believed to be elderly and are considered particularly vulnerable as they often cannot reach makeshift camps for the displaced. A colleague in Sindh province had told her about an elderly man she had met “on a railway line who looked very desperate”. “He actually helped his son and his grandchildren evacuate and now he had lost them. He didn’t know where they were. And he really had trouble walking, so he had no shelter, no food, no water, nothing,” she said. In a country already suffering from high levels of poverty and malnutrition, the massive destruction of crops and livestock is a particular concern and is feared to mean “a very harsh winter” for millions. A family rests after salvaging their belongings from their flood-hit home in Charsadda, Pakistan. Photo: Muhammad Sajjad/AP Jennifer Ankrom-Kahn, country director for Action Against Hunger, said the flood damage came on top of the economic impact of the Covid pandemic and the spike in food prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We were already seeing huge inflation in food prices and now we have these floods that have affected all the crops that were grown during the season, all the food stores that were maintained by different communities, by the government.” He added: “So this is not just going to affect this moment, but in the long term.” Pakistan’s government said damage from the floods could reach about $10 billion (£8.6 billion) and called on the world to help as it struggles to deal with the effects of a climate crisis it barely created. On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK “[stood] with Pakistan’ and was giving £15 million to help with relief efforts. A third of this would come from pledging to match the first £5m of funding raised by the DEC appeal, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said. DEC said it was “incredibly grateful” to the UK government for the commitment, but added that it would “look forward to [to] the UK government increases this pot if at all possible.’ The match funding cap is significantly lower than in recent appeals for Ukraine and Afghanistan. The appeals will be broadcast on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky on Thursday after their evening newscasts.

title: “Emergency Appeal Launched As Satellite Images Show A Third Of Pakistan Underwater Humanitarian Response Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-23” author: “Imelda Garcia”

As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appealed for funds to be raised for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data recorded by the Copernicus satellite. These pictures appear to confirm the Pakistani government’s assessment that more than a third of the country – an area roughly the size of the UK – has been submerged by monsoon rains, estimated to have been 10 times heavier than usual. “The Indus River overflowed, effectively creating a large lake tens of kilometers wide,” Esa said in a statement. The floods claimed more than 1,100 lives, including 399 children, destroyed more than a million homes and washed away crops, livestock and important infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Data captured by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus satellite on August 30 was used to map the extent of the floods currently ravaging Pakistan. Photo: ESA On Thursday, Saleh Saeed, chief executive of DEC, the umbrella organization for 15 of the UK’s leading charities, pleaded with the British public to help. “Timing is critical, with conditions expected to worsen as the rains continue,” he said. “We urge everyone: please give what you can.” Care Pakistan’s Maryam Imtiaz said it was clear the emergency was “not under control”. “The situation on the ground is absolutely catastrophic… We need as much help as we can get,” he added. Aid workers are battling enormous logistical challenges to reach millions of people in need, particularly in southeastern Sindh province where water levels remain high. Even in areas where the water has receded slightly, aid distribution is complicated by damaged roads, downed power lines and blocked railways. “[It] means humanitarian organizations struggle – it’s a challenge to get aid from A to B,” said Waseem Ahmad, CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide. “And also the goods available for relief services and people are decreasing [in quantity].” Speaking from the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ahmad said he was in the country for the 2010 floods, which killed nearly 2,000 people, but this was worse. “The situation… is absolute chaos everywhere. People are on the side of the road, waiting for humanitarian aid like water, food, shelter, and this is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan. In my 22 years of experience as [a] aid worker, I have never seen such devastation caused by floods.’ He had met a woman whose house and animals had been swept away, he said. “He pointed to a place [that] it was her home. All I could see there was water. And this is the scale of the devastation unfolding in Pakistan.” Another humanitarian on the ground, Ajeeba Aslam, of HelpAge International, said 2.3 million of the 33 million people affected are believed to be elderly and are considered particularly vulnerable as they often cannot reach makeshift camps for the displaced. A colleague in Sindh province had told her about an elderly man she had met “on a railway line who looked very desperate”. “He actually helped his son and his grandchildren evacuate and now he had lost them. He didn’t know where they were. And he really had trouble walking, so he had no shelter, no food, no water, nothing,” she said. In a country already suffering from high levels of poverty and malnutrition, the massive destruction of crops and livestock is a particular concern and is feared to mean “a very harsh winter” for millions. A family rests after salvaging their belongings from their flood-hit home in Charsadda, Pakistan. Photo: Muhammad Sajjad/AP Jennifer Ankrom-Kahn, country director for Action Against Hunger, said the flood damage came on top of the economic impact of the Covid pandemic and the spike in food prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We were already seeing huge inflation in food prices and now we have these floods that have affected all the crops that were grown during the season, all the food stores that were maintained by different communities, by the government.” He added: “So this is not just going to affect this moment, but in the long term.” Pakistan’s government said damage from the floods could reach about $10 billion (£8.6 billion) and called on the world to help as it struggles to deal with the effects of a climate crisis it barely created. On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK “[stood] with Pakistan’ and was giving £15 million to help with relief efforts. A third of this would come from pledging to match the first £5m of funding raised by the DEC appeal, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said. DEC said it was “incredibly grateful” to the UK government for the commitment, but added that it would “look forward to [to] the UK government increases this pot if at all possible.’ The match funding cap is significantly lower than in recent appeals for Ukraine and Afghanistan. The appeals will be broadcast on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky on Thursday after their evening newscasts.