Tents where people are seeking shelter after being flooded for a second time in Sindh, Pakistan. © CARE/Theo Alexopoulos
Just one year after an unprecedented flood affected 20 million people, new flooding is threatening lives and livelihoods in Pakistan.
Sindh, a province in the south of the country, is the worst affected. Nearly one million houses have been damaged, thousands of livestock have been lost and more than five million people are struggling to rescue their livelihoods. The flood has destroyed 1.5 million acres, leaving families dependent on agriculture without food and income.
Many families are still trying to recover from last year’s floods and the recurring flooding puts them into a perilous position. Around 300,000 people have sought shelter in schools and makeshift tented settlements.
Sustained rains have caused canals to overflow and breach, hampering relief efforts and road infrastructure repair work. The rains are expected to decrease in the next days and the monsoon season is coming to an end, however, the flooding will have long-term impacts. It will take weeks or even months in some of the affected areas for the water to recede.
Urgent
Affected people now urgently need food, drinking water, temporary shelter and health care. Those staying the temporary shelters lack clean water, cooking utensils as well as kitchen and sanitation facilities. Stagnant water in lower areas and around urban and rural settlements could lead to an outbreak of water borne diseases such as malaria, diarrhea or cholera.
In Dadu in Sindh province CARE is distributing essential relief items such as mats, kitchen sets with pots and pans, hygiene sets with soap, antibacterial items, toothpaste, brushes and shawls, as well as tarpaulins to build temporary shelters. Through the government, CARE has also provided tanks for safe water storage. An assessment is currently underway to determine needs for emergency health care and cash support in Dadu, Kamber and Mirpur Khas. CARE plans to reach a total target number of 150,000 people through mobile health clinics and 5,000 households through cash transfer and livelihood activities.
Please help us ensure that money is available immediately in disasters such as this.
