Massive floods across Pakistan | Thousands Killed

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Greateful to our iranian brothers

 

[NWO]

When the U.S is giving you all money, you like them.

When they are not, you all hate them.

Come on, now, no mud slinging. We need help, and if the US is helping us, then we're grateful.

BTW, UK also deserves a thank. They've donated just as much as US.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Wait.... why is the U.S providing Pakistan with support? According to alot of People on this forum the U.S is just trying to take over the world and is just trying to kill everyone in Pakistan.

When the U.S is giving you all money, you like them.

When they are not, you all hate them.

We are just against the drone killing of civilians and war in our neighbourhood , US and Pakistan just get along fine, if US gives us respect as an ally , we are a great ally just ask China

 

[nomi007]

although most of the countries around the globe hates USA but USA have very good record in Disaster period in very where in the world.i appreciate USA role in these types of activities.

 

[nomi007]

plz Iran also sends its Chinooks for rescue activities we badly need of that helicopters

 

[QADRI]

Thanks to our brother countries, Iran, Turkey and China..

 

[air marshal]

Why Armed Forces are only reliable aid-worker?

IT goes against the credibility of the current dispensation in the government in Islamabad that people have hardly donated any amount in the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund but people throng to the Army-led camps and relief centers, to volunteer or give aid. The reason is simple, the Islamabad government has as usual been caught napping; first the Government’s Meteorological Department forecast weaker Monsoon rains than previous years (it changed its website after the deluge hit Pakistan) thus leaving the people totally unprepared for the catastrophe. The National Disaster Management Authority, which was created after great fanfare in the aftermath of the 2005 Earthquake, and is supposed to have a proactive role in managing disasters, was also totally unprepared. Pressure mounted on the government because the head of the state, President Zardari chose to visit his private chateau in France and revel in one of the most expensive hotels in London on a private trip as well as call on the British Prime Minister, despite the Brit’s insulting and humiliating comments against the people of Pakistan and thousands continued to drown in the floods back home. Touched to the quick, the reaction of the government was twofold. One, the Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani was asked to make a few cosmetic visits to some flood affected localities and observe the devastations caused from the safety of his helicopter window. When he did make a landing at Mianwali, the NDMA rigged up a fake field hospital with phony flood affectees, who were awarded compensation cheques by the PM. As soon as the PM departed for safer climes, the bogus hospital was disbanded but not before a private TV channel exposed the fraud. To rub salt in the wound, President Zardari became a victim of a shoe hurler in a PPP organized rally in Birmingham. The shoe thrower was also a jiyala, but perhaps with a pang of conscience since he could not bear his President’s merrymaking while thousands perished back home. The government, instead of gearing up its relief efforts, directed its total anger at the private TV channel, stopping its transmission, burning its newsprint and jiyalas all over Sindh, instead of stopping the flood, surrounded, attacked and ransacked the private TV channel and its newspaper offices.

In this void of rescue and relief, there was only one organization, the Armed Forces of Pakistan, which rushed to help its countrymen. Pakistan Army, which is the bigger force, bore the brunt of the rescue and relief efforts. Pakistan Air Force and Navy, though smaller in size, were not found wanting in spirit. PAF rushed its C-130s and helicopters for aiding the flood victims, while PN boats and helicopters were plying round the clock to help the people stranded in the floods. Pakistan Army engineers strived to build bridges where the original ones had been washed off; medical teams of the three forces have been in the flood hit region in all four provinces from day one while Army Jawans have not only risked their lives to rescue those swept by floods, but have also helped build dykes to keep the flood waters away.It is obvious that the Armed Forces of Pakistan, especially the Army is likely to endear itself to the people because they have been there to aid them in their hour of need. It has not indulged in photo opportunities or fake camps but even the highest level of Commanders is regularly visiting the flood affected areas. The Government on the other hand, has not only been involved in criminal neglect of the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan (Punjab has fared slightly better because of its vibrant provincial government) but failed to learn from its mistakes in the former two provinces and could have made provisions to avert danger in Sindh. Unfortunately, the NDMA or for that matter the Government in Islamabad and Karachi took few steps to save its people. The provincial government in Sindh was busier trying to whip up pressure against the private TV channel mentioned earlier, to “save” the honour of its President and play up the Sindh Card rather than save lives. Such disastrous moves made it imperative for the Armed Forces to bend backwards to save the people in distress.

Why Armed Forces are only reliable aid-worker?

 

[nanmun]

Good to see many countries/people joining hands to help the people in need.

Good work by PAF, Turkey and all other countries. UN should have a rapid action force which can be used to save/rescue people in these kinds of natural disasters.

 

[sparklingway]

Call it a photo-op all you want, but he does spend time in public service:-

 

[sparklingway]

BBC's brilliant coverage. Although brilliant might not be a suitable word here, but BBC and Al-Jazeera are the only two International Channels giving the disaster the coverage it deserves.

BBC News - How a tragedy unfolded in Pakistan

 

[anon45]

The assistance looks greatly needed to me, but I could see how 1000 US marines could raise eyebrows to some people.


wonder if there will be claims of invasion though from some camps...

 

[fawwaxs]

Pakistan floods — a timeline

- July 29: Flash floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains hit northwestern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir as the country mourns its worst aviation disaster, which killed 152 people in Islamabad.

- July 31: Local authorities say the floods have killed at least 800. The deluge kills another 65 people in mountains across the border in Afghanistan.

- August 2: The UN says that nearly 980,000 people have been left homeless or have been displaced.

- The Red Cross appeals for aid.

- August 4: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani calls on his administration to speed up the delivery of aid. There is a growing backlash against the civilian government and President Asif Ali Zardari over failures to provide food, water and sanitation to the victims.

- August 5: The UN estimates that the flooding has killed 1,600 people in northwestern Pakistan alone.

- Numerous cases of diarrhoea.

- The UN says it has received 18 million dollars of international aid.

- August 6: Pakistan declares a red alert as the flooding worsens, reaching the south and leading to the evacuation of half a million people.

- The floods have affected 12 million people in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the National Disaster Management Agency says.

- August 7: In the south, notably in the densely populated province of Sindh, a million people are evacuated, bringing to 15 million the number affected across the country according to the local authorities.

- August 8: Landslides in Gilgit-Baltistan province in the far north.

- Gilani visits flood-hit areas of Sindh province, calling again for international aid.

- August 9: Around 13.8 million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan, making the scale of the disaster worse than the 2004 tsunami, 2005 earthquake in Kashmir and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a UN official says.

- August 10: Six million people need humanitarian aid in order to survive, according to the UN.

- Zardari returns to Pakistan, after a European tour for which he was criticised.

- August 11: The UN appeals for 460 million dollars in emergency aid for flood victims.

- A senior UN envoy warns that militants could exploit Pakistan's worst humanitarian disaster.

- The United States triples the number of helicopters helping Pakistan's flood relief effort.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

There is 0% coverage on North American channels -

This disaster is 10 times greater then Haiti and definitly greater then tsunami incident , tsunami killed instantaneously , this will kill ppl slowly as soon they will have food and water shortages and then illnesses will creep in ...

So action is needed

These images that we see ... are not on any tv stations here in north america

 

[Rank]

Wrong title : Zardari Visits Pakistan’s Flood Zone

Correct Title: Zardari Visits/Tour Pakistan for one week

 

[sparklingway]

Floods are in short not as "sexy" if you'd accept such an inhumane and insensitive use of the term as in it's commercial sale-ability. Earthquakes show pictures of entire cities crumbled to ashes, and the tsunami showed thirty foot high waves (besides the spread of the disaster and the presence of foreign tourists).

Floods simply do not generate the response from the people since they're assumed to be far less devastating and a video of people's stuff floating in muddy water seems less destructive compared to a crumbled house.

That's the crass way of putting it but it's true.