Pakistan's current monsoon leads to an international emergency appeal for assistance

In its “Why is South Asia Vulnerable to Climate Change?” feature, the World Bank stated that South Asia suffers an exceptionally high number of natural disasters. Fifty percent of the region’s population – more than 750 million people – was affected by at least one weather-related disaster between 1990 and 2008. An estimated $45 billion in damages left almost 60,000 people dead during this time period.

Today, the State Department’s Office of the Spokesman, issued an update on the U.S. response to Pakistan’s flooding disaster. The U.S. is sending two additional flights carrying 51,840 halal meals today. The U.S. Transportation Command commander, General Duncan McNabb, traveled to Islamabad today and brought another 12,288 meals. In total, the U.S. has delivered 189,072 halal meals. U.S. owned helicopters that are part of the Ministry of Interior’s 50th Air Squadron delivered 5100 pounds of rations and supplies to flood victims on Sunday. To date, the U.S. has pledge $10 million for humanitarian assistance under the supervision of Pakistan’s National Disaster Relief Authority. Since July 30th, the 50th Air Squadron has rescued a total of 733 people and transported 11,873 pounds of provisions to flood victims.

In the past, USAID has provided assistance during times of flooding in Pakistan. In June of 2005, USAID provided $50,000 in immediate disaster relief funding to assist flood victims due to increased snowmelt in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).  In July of 2007, USAID provided $390,000 to Mercy Corps, to distribute emergency relief products to those affected by Tropical Storm Yemyin in southern Pakistan.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) today launched an international emergency appeal for 16.3 million dollars to support the Pakistan Red Crescent Society’s (PRCS) emergency relief efforts. They estimate that the floods have affected 2.5 million people.

“The next week is critical. With further heavy rains there is a real danger that the flooding will spread further south into Sindh province,” explains Ateeb Siddiqui, Director of Operations with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society. “As well as increasing distributions of food and shelter materials, the Red Crescent is working to reduce the public health risks posed by the flooding. Thousands of people are living in miserable conditions. Providing clean water and sanitation is an absolute priority if we are to avert a public health disaster,” adds Siddiqui.

According to the IFRC, the flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is the worst in living memory, with more than 800 people believed to have been killed and heavy damage reported to roads and bridges, essentially cutting people off in areas.

The annual South Asian summer monsoon is critical to agriculture in the region. According to the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), most of the rainfall in Pakistan originates from summer monsoons. However, this year’s monsoon has turned out to be devastating. Additionally, complaints about poor infrastructure and poverty have made coping with the annual heavy rains extremely difficult. The summer monsoon normally lasts from early June to early September.

Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that two million internally displaced people in Pakistan’s Swat Valley were at increased risk of getting ill during that monsoon season.  During a visit to the region, WHO Assistant Director-General, Dr. Eric Laroche, had said that he expected outbreaks of water-borne diseases, acute respiratory infections and malaria.

This year, CNN reports that government officials in Pakistan are bracing themselves for an outbreak of disease. "We estimate that about 100,000 people, mostly children, have been hit by cholera and gastro diseases," Syed Zahir Ali Shah, health minister for Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa.

With such a heavy monsoon season bringing misery to so many who are witnessing their lives get washed away, comparing monsoon seasons in the region may come to mind. A study conducted last year predicted a weakened monsoon season for South Asia due to future climate change some day. Last February, a Purdue University research group found that future climate change could influence monsoon dynamics and cause less summer precipitation, a delay in the start of monsoon season, and longer breaks between rainy periods. The high-resolution climate model that was used by the research team projected a delay in the start of monsoon season from 5 days to 15 days by the end of the 21st century. It also projected an overall weakening of the summer monsoon precipitation over South Asia. The model also shows an eastward shift in monsoon circulation, leading to more rainfall over the Indian Ocean, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and less over India, Nepal and Pakistan.

While such a change to monsoon precipitation would have a devastating effect to several local economies and reliable crops, the food distribution that began this weekend by the World Food Programme (WFP) to over 35,000 families will hopefully bring a little bit of desperately needed immediate relief to flood victims who are suffering thru getting their most basic needs met.

At present, the PRCS’s support is vital to the flood victims who are receiving their much needed assistance. They have provided food packs to the 3100 flood-affected families affected by extensive flash floods. Their recent report based on the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s weather advisory states that more monsoon rains/thundershowers are predicted from today through August 4th. They have launched a campaign of helping 16,000 monsoon flood-affected families all over Pakistan (8,000 in Khyber-Pakhunkhwa, 5,000 in Balochistan, 3,000 in Punjab). They are partnering with the International Committee of the Red Cross, IFRC, Danish Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), and German Red Cross (GRC).

Hindustan Times published the Agence France-Presse article “Survivors lash out after Pak floods kill 1,100,” in which 53 year-old labourer Ejaz Khan spoke to reporters at a demonstration in the northwestern city of Peshawar. He said, “I had built a two-room house on the outskirts of Peshawar with my hard-earned money but I lost it in the floods. The government is not helping us…the school building where I sheltered is packed with people, with no adequate arrangement for food and medicine.”