The Flood Relief Blog

ISLAMABAD: The worst floods in memory in Pakistan have devastated the lives of more than three million people so far, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday, and fury over the unpopular government’s response to the crisis is spreading.

The catastrophe, which started almost a week ago and has killed more than 1,400 people, is likely to deepen as more rains are expected and conditions are ripe for the outbreak of disease.

Pakistani authorities are struggling to help flood victims, many of whom have lost everything and say they had not received any warnings raging waters were heading their way.

Anger was palpable in towns such as Charsadda. A Reuters reporter saw people attacking trucks distributing relief items.

Police then charged at them with batons.

Bistma Bibi, 65, who lost two grandsons in the floods, accused state relief workers of only helping friends or relatives.

“I came here at 5 o’clock in the morning. I did my best. I begged and fought but got nothing. They’re giving them (supplies) to their people,” she said.

Unicef spokesman Abdul Sami Malik told Reuters of the more than three million affected, 1.3 million people were severely impacted by the floods in the northwest, losing homes and livelihoods. More than 1,400 have died, he said.

Religious charities, some with suspected ties to militants, have stepped in to provide aid, piling pressure on the government to show it can take control.

“Since the flood hit our area, I did not see any food or relief packets from the government. Their offices have been washed away or damaged,” said school teacher Yar Mohammad, waiting to cross a makeshift bridge over a river in Swat Valley.

Religious groups played a key role in the relief effort following a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that killed 75,000 people.

Trying times for government

The government faces resilient militants, who often try to capitalise on a lack of civil services to recruit disillusioned Pakistanis to take up arms against the state.

Authorities forecast more of the heavy monsoon rains that have been lashing the area for the past week. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said more than 29,500 houses were damaged and a key trade highway to China was blocked by flooding.

Waters have receded in some flooded areas. But Unicef’s Malik expressed concern that waters were spreading from the worst hit province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Pakistan’s Punjab heartland, the major food-producing province, as well as the Sindh region.

Several parts of southern Punjab have been hit by floods.

The army said that 20,000 people have been rescued there.

In the northwest, the bloated, infected carcasses of animals floated on the water, raising the spectre of diseases such as cholera. Food prices are also rising sharply as agriculture has been wiped out, adding to the people’s misery.

“Roads to some districts are no longer there. Coping mechanisms of people are lost because they don’t have any assets to sell to buy food,” said Mohammad Rafiq from Unicef.

Source : dawn news

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Following is list of donation links, relief resources, organizations and individuals working to support flood victims of Pakistan, compiled from a facebook note Do you want to do your part in helping the Pakistani people displaced because of the recent flash flooding? Here is How ! Some details below:

Besides sending cash through below the organizations listed below, you can support by providing following commodities (please do not donate old/expired stuff. Make sure edible items are hygienic and properly packed):

* Clothing: Clothes of various sizes, Bedding, Shoes
* Utensils: Jerricans (large plastic cans that hold 20 liters of water or other liquids), Crockery, Buckets
* Toiletries: Tissues, Soaps, Dettol (antibacterial cleaners), Towels
* Food: Rice, Sugar, Flour (Atta), Onions, Potatoes, Cooking oil, Tea, Milk (tetra packs or powder), Safe drinking water, Cooked Food

Medicines:
1. Water purification tablets.
2. Life saving drugs.
3. Vaccines for malaria, cholera, typhoid, influenza.
4. Pain killers including strong ones like morphine derivatives, tremadol, pethadine, kinz .
5. Antibiotics e.g. tetnus, amoxil, gentamycin.
6. IV cannulas
7. IV Drip sets
8. IV drips: normal saline, ringerlactate
9. Local anesthetics (injections)
10. Cotton bandages, cotton.
11. Surgical instruments: e.g needle holders, forceps, tweezers.
12. Suturing materials, Skin staples.

In Pakistan:

• Edhi Foundation: Donate here

• Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation
  Title of Account: Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation
  Account #: 0030445261000455
  Name of Bank: MCB Bank (1028), Super Market, Islamabad-Pakistan
  Swift Code: MUCBPKKAMCC
  Tax Exemption: 6043/ATD/2008-09

• SUNGI: Donate here

• Pakistan Red Crescent Society (offices in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Muzaffarabad.

• Pakistani Youth (facebook group)

• Rescue & Relief Work ( Flood Survival)An independent group of students (facebook group)

• The Volunteers/ Voice of the Civil Society: VOTCS – a registered (No. DSW 3369-K) welfare organization in Pakistan, operating as a Non-Profit, Public Charity in the North America, Inc. – 501(C)(3) Organization(Tax Exempted). Sending provisions to affectees with the help of Pakistan Army. For more info call: Hadia khan @ +92-3018245999 Sadia Haroon @ +92-3218251122 Irum Farooque @ +92-3002332142. (For donations: HABIB BANK LIMITED ACCOUNT NO: 1549-79001393-03)

• RONAQ-E-QAINAAT – Young doctors are in the process of arranging a series of free medical camps in the flood affected areas. First Camp is at Nowshera. Please Contact Ms. Alina Akhyar at alinaakhyar@yahoo.com, to email you the Trust’s past activities, bank account details and other queries. They have reportedly done some pretty impressive work. (Account number: 00400101065364, account title: Khadija Nadeem; Askari Bank Chaklala Scheme 3 branch Rawalpindi). Khadija is the founding member, handling all donations.

International Charity Organizations:

• UNHCR: Donate here. You can also mail your donations to UNHCR:
• UNHCR  - UNHCR Canada
• UNICEF USA- Donate here
• United Nation’s World Food Programme: Donations are tax deductible for number of countries. Donate here
• Plan International ( Pakistan specific) donate here
• International Medical Corps
• IRC (The International Rescue Committee): donate here: http://www.theirc.org/news/irc-team-responds-devastating-floods-pakistan
• Save the Children

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What was till today described as the worst floods in Pakistan’s history has now been termed as the biggest disaster ever to strike the country. Report by Anita Joshua in The Hindu

An update to my earlier post Pakistan floods: Links to send donations, relief goods.Please see Rural Support Programme flood appeal. Details in Shandana Khan’s email below – she earlier worked with the internally displaced after the exodus from Swat and other areas following the army operation against militants. She writes:

The RSP Network will provide your donations to its member organisations or Rural Support Programmes, in Punjab, Pukhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan and AJK. The RSPs are working with flood victims. The RSPs will assist flood victims mainly through their existing community networks and field-based offices in the flood affected districts.

The RSP Network is registered in Pakistan as a non-profit and is the largest network of non-government, rural development organisations or Rural Support Programmes with an outreach to 3 million rural households. See www.rspn.org for donation details. For queries contact Amina Askari at amina@rspn.org.pk

Regards

Shandana
________________________________
SHANDANA H. KHAN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
NO 7, STREET 49, SECTOR F 6/4
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
PHONE:     00-92-51-2821736/2822476
FAX:           00-92-51-2829115
WEBSITE   www.rspn.org

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ISLAMABAD: The number of people suffering from the massive floods in Pakistan could exceed the combined total in three recent megadisasters – the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake – the United Nations said Monday.

The death toll in each of those three disasters was much higher than the 1,500 people killed so far in the floods that first hit Pakistan two weeks ago. But the Pakistani government estimates that over 13 million people have been affected - two million more than the other disasters combined.

The comparison helps frame the scale of the crisis, which has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and has generated widespread anger from flood victims who have complained that aid is not reaching them quickly enough or at all.

”It looks like the number of people affected in this crisis is higher than the Haiti earthquake, the tsunami or the Pakistan earthquake, and if the toll is as high as the one given by the government, it’s higher than the three of them combined,” Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told The Associated Press.

The UN has provided a lower number of people who have been affected in Pakistan, about 6 million, but Giuliano said his organization does not dispute the government’s figure. The UN number does not include the southern province of Sindh, which has been hit by floods in recent days, and the two sides have slightly different definitions of what it means to be affected.

The total number of people affected in the three other large disasters that have hit in recent years is about 11 million – 5 million in the tsunami and 3 million in each of the earthquakes – said Giuliano.

Many of the people affected by the floods, which were caused by extremely heavy monsoon rains, were located in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Rescue workers have been unable to reach up to 600,000 people marooned in the province’s Swat Valley, where many residents were still trying to recover from an intense battle between the army and the Taliban last spring, said Giuliano. Bad weather has prevented helicopters from flying to the area, which is inaccessible by ground, he said.

”All these people are in very serious need of assistance, and we are highly concerned about their situation,” said Giuliano.

Hundreds of thousands of people have also had to flee rising floodwaters in recent days in the central and southern provinces of Punjab and Sindh as heavy rains have continued to pound parts of the country.

One affected resident, Manzoor Ahmed, said Monday that although he managed to escape floods that submerged villages and destroyed homes in Sindh, the total lack of government help meant dying may have been a better alternative.

”It would have been better if we had died in the floods as our current miserable life is much more painful,” said Ahmed, who fled with his family from the town of Shikarpur and spent the night shivering in the rain that has continued to lash the country.

”It is very painful to see our people living without food and shelter,” he said.

Thousands of people in the neighboring districts of Shikarpur and Sukkur camped out on roads, bridges and railway tracks – any dry ground they could find – often with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and perhaps a plastic sheet to keep off the rain.

”I have no utensils. I have no food for my children. I have no money,” said Hora Mai, 40, sitting on a rain-soaked road in Sukkur along with hundreds of other people. ”We were able to escape the floodwaters, but hunger may kill us.”

A senior government official in Sukkur, Inamullah Dhareejo, said authorities were working to set up relief camps in the district and deliver food to flood victims.

But an Associated Press reporter who traveled widely through the worst-hit areas in Sindh over the past three days saw no sign of relief camps or government assistance.

The worst floods in Pakistan’s history hit the country at a time when the government is already struggling with a faltering economy and a brutal war against Taliban militants that has killed thousands of people.

The US and other international partners have stepped in to support the government by donating tens of millions of dollars and providing relief supplies and assistance.

But the UN special envoy for the disaster, Jean-Maurice Ripert, said Sunday that Pakistan will need billions of dollars more from international donors to recover from the floods, a daunting prospect at a time when the financial crisis has shrunk aid budgets in many countries

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Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Taliban faction on Tuesday urged the government to reject American aid for people affected by the nation’s worst floods in 80 years.

“The government should not accept American aid and if it happens, we can give 20 million dollars to them as aid for the flood victims,” Azam Tariq, a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), told AFP by telephone.

The most devastating floods in Pakistan’s living memory have affected up to 13.8 million people and killed an estimated 1,600 prompting the UN to prepare an appeal for several hundred million dollars for immediate relief.

“We will ourselves distribute relief under leadership of our chief Hakimullah Mehsud among the people if the government assures us that none of our members will be arrested,” Tariq said.

“We condemn American and other foreign aid and believe that it will lead to subjugation. Our jihad against America will continue.”

Washington has provided 35 million dollars in aid, including 436,000 halal meals and 12 pre-fabricated bridges.The White House said that US helicopters have helped to save more than 1,000 lives in Pakistan.

Critics say the relief effort was slow to get into gear and have heaped scorn on the unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari for pressing ahead with a visit to Europe at the height of the disaster.

Islamic charities, some with suspected links to extremist militants, are believed to have stepped into the breach on the ground, as international relief efforts mobilised.

The TTP, a key architect of a bombing campaign that has killed more than 3,570 people across Pakistan in three years, grabbed the global spotlight after the United States accused the group over a failed car bomb plot in New York in May.

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Millions in Pakistan need clean water, sanitary food, housing and medical care. Organizations are now on the ground helping those displaced by the worst floods in 80 years.

In Pakistan, an estimated 15 million (number increasing every minute) victims of the worst floods in 80 years are searching for hope. Hundreds of thousands have lost their homes, drinking water is filthy and contaminated, and food is scarce.

One look at the devastating images of men and women walking through brown water up to their chests makes all of us feel grateful for our comfortable — and dry — homes.

Here’s how you can support their efforts.

1.Hillary Clinton announced Wednesday that Americans could text the word“SWAT” to the number 50555 to donate $10 per SMS message to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to provide tents, clothing, food, clean water and medicine to Pakistan. You can watch a video of her statement here .

2.American Red Cross seeks to raise $100,000 to aid its Pakistan equivalent — Pakistan Red Crescent — with teams on the ground providing food, other relief items and medical care. To donate, go to their website.

3.UNICEF is providing help with water, sanitation, health and nutrition for displaced children and families. To donate, please click here.

4.Stamford, Conn.-based AmeriCares is sending medical and other aid to the hardest-hit areas of the flood. Readers can donate through the AmeriCares website.

5.CARE needs donations for its health teams, mobile clinics and distribution of food, which will help 100,000 flood victims. To donate, go to their website.

6.Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is providing water, sanitation help, hygiene kits, cooking utensils and other items to Pakistanis. Doctors Without Borders has also prepared itself to care for patients in case of cholera outbreaks. To donate to Doctors Without Borders, give to its emergency fund.

7.The International Rescue Committee , founded by Albert Einstein in 1933, is on the ground assessing the disaster, planning to make clean water accessible and to provide shelter to people who have lost their homes. To donate to the IRC’s efforts in Pakistan, click here.

8.The International Medical Corps (IMC) has sent mobile medical teams of doctors and paramedics to assist victims in the hardest hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest. To make a donation to the Santa Monica, Calif. based organization, founded by a UCLA doctor, go to the IMC website. The organization is also seeking doctors, nurses and trained professionals from a wide variety of fields. For more information and to volunteer, visit the Corps‘ website.

9.Westport, Conn.-based Save the Children, dedicated to helping children worldwide, is already providing medical care, food and shelter kits. To donate to its Pakistan efforts,click here.

10. Mercy Corps’ Pakistan Emergency Fund supports Mercy Corps workers with their efforts in helping displaced families in the hard-hit Swat Valley. Visit the Mercy Corps website to donate to the Pakistan Emergency Fund.

11.Oxfam hopes to reach 400,000 people affected by the devastating floods, supplying clean water and preventing the spread of waterborne disease. To support Oxfam’s efforts, go to the Oxfam America website. Those outside the US can donate to its UK emergency relief fund for Pakistan.

12.The World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger, is supplying food to the tens of thousands affected by the floods. To donate, visit the WFP website.

13.Islamic Relief Worldwide, a relief organization based in Birmingham, England, has launched a £2 million (or $3.2 million USD) appeal to deliver clean water, food and health care. You can donate here.

14. BRAC has temporarily halted its normal operations in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to provide relief work. Due to the acute food shortage, BRAC Pakisan has begun to deliver food packets containing such items at rice, lentils, flour and water purification tables. In the immediate future, the team will also be distributing Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and sending out a medical team to begin assessing health needs. To donate, click here.

Courtesy: Tonic Staff

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The memories of October 8 earthquake of 2005 are still fresh in our minds. People displaced in the catastrophe five years back are still not completely back to their normal lives and we have another one to deal with. This time the flash floods have effected the whole of the country, the number of displaced people spread across Pakistan is estimated to be above 13 million and the figures are still rising.

From the earthquake gained a lot of experience, although sadly not much of that experience was used to help improve our disaster management system but at least the social workers know the challenges are hugely difficult to deal with the aftermaths of such disaster .

Mostly all the privet NGOs active in relief work are emphasizing of specific medical supplies, food items of high nutrition values, nonperishable food, clothing’s and daily use items important for the displeased population of the country. But there is much more needed besides these essential supplies for the welfare and survival of these highly vulnerable people trapped in the crises.

We have already seen reports of crimes like robberies taking place in areas hit by floods, as people have left their valuables in their flooded houses, opportunists and criminals are having a field day stealing from the un attended houses. But that is not the only crime, and they are not the only criminals who are active and having a field day making the most of the misery of the people for their own selfish beings.

Countless cases of human trafficking have been recorded during the time of Oct 8 earthquake 5 years back but than the situation was different. The people displaces due to the earthquake were in camps and not much trafficking, abduction was possible from the centralized camped city, but hear the disaster is spread across the country and the refugees are taking shelters in schools and which ever dry land they find convenient, the refugee camps too are not much centralized and are divided is pockets.

Obviously a large number of children are among the survivors, and since the chaos and confusion is still there, and the disaster is still folding , to make it worst most NGOs are still busy collecting food daily use supplies and making them available to the flood victims, not many are thinking on this line, which makes the environment quite favorable time for the criminals involved in human traffickers, and sex trade crimes. Children, specially girl children, under treatment in make shift hospitals, trapped and left behind, or those who have lost most of their families are at a high vulnerability risk.

The need is to keep a careful check on such children, keep an eye out for suspicious people. Provide security to the refugee camps. NGOs and international organizations should take immediate measures and the state should be on a lookout for such criminals. There is also a need to raise voice and make people aware of the danger so they can too can keep an eye on suspicious people. And report them to the government, army police or alert the NGOs working in their areas.

It is a hard time for all of us, those who are privileged should play an active role, donating and helping the people who are currently struggling for their survival, it is our moral and ethical duty to provide the support and help our fellow human being in needs, with money, food and in which ever way we can help them. It is also our duty to voice our concerns and urge the government and people concerned to help and support there people. Millions of lives today are depending upon us it is time we stand up, strong for them.

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In response to the damaging floods that struck Pakistan this week, mGive and several of its disaster relief partners quickly mobilized to launch text donation campaigns that will aid victims by distributing tents, relief supplies and humanitarian assistance.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said about 46 of Pakistan’s 135 districts have been affected, and at least 39 health facilities are destroyed. The WFP is working to reach an estimated 250,000 people this week with emergency food supplies. The U.N. refugee agency has distributed 10,000 tents for temporary housing.

For those who want to donate to the relief effort, a simple text message pledges either $5 or $10. To donate:

For Central Asia Institute, text the word CAI to 50555 to give $10. Central Asia Institute provides community-based education opportunities in Pakistan & Afghanistan.

For CHF International, text the word PAKISTAN to 50555 to give $5. CHF International will provide transitional shelter, create livelihoods, and ultimately re-build Pakistan’s economic and social foundations.

For Islamic Society of North America, text the word RELIEF to 27722 to give $10. The Islamic Society of North America contributes to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large.

For UNHCR, text the word SWAT to 50555 to give $10. UNHCR emergency response teams are distributing tents, relief supplies, and humanitarian assistance to people displaced by the flooding.

For World Food Programme USA, text the word AID to 27722 to give $10. WFP will use helicopters to transport food to people in isolated communities across the Swat Valley.

For World Emergency Relief, text the word RESCUE to 50555 to give $10. Rescue Task Force is a San Diego County based non-profit relief agency that responds to natural and man-made disasters world-wide.

For Zakat Foundation of America, text the work ZAKATUS to 50555 to give $10. Zakat Foundation has begun to address the immediate needs of flood survivors by providing food and clothing in four key Pakistani districts.

As a pioneer and leader in powering mobile donations for nonprofit organizations, mGive enables donors to make small pledges sent by text message.

Mobile Accord’s foundation partner, the mGive Foundation, provides the easiest, fastest and most direct way for people to help. 100 percent of the donations will go to the relief organizations to help those affected by this natural disaster. The text pledge is billed to the donor as part of their monthly phone bill. All donations are tax deductible and receipts can be printed at mGive.org/receipt.

In an address on August 4 explaining the U.S. response to the floods, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted the power of mobile donations. “I just texted a contribution myself, because we know from our own experience, particularly in Haiti, small donations can add up to make a big difference,” Secretary Clinton said. “Americans have always shown great generosity to people facing crises worldwide. So I urge Americans to join this effort and send some much needed help to the people of Pakistan.”

The mobile donation campaigns for relief to Haiti after the January earthquake highlighted the powerful potential of mobile technology to help relieve human suffering. Conducted by charitable organizations and powered by mGive, the campaigns raised have more than $41 million since the earthquake struck Haiti.

“We continue to be awed by the generosity of everyday Americans,” said James Eberhard, CEO of mGive. “During the relief efforts for Haiti, millions of first time donors contributed to the efforts, showing how small donations can make a big difference for those in need. Pakistan needs our help now, and a simple text to donate $5 or $10 can make a difference at a critical time.”

About Mobile Accord / mGive

Mobile Accord is the innovator and leader in mobile technology for nonprofit organizations, powering mobile donations in the United States. Founded in 2005, Mobile Accord was the first company in the U.S. to offer mobile tools specifically built for nonprofit organizations. Mobile Accord serves more than 400 leading U.S. philanthropic organizations and has raised more 95% of all funds raised via mobile giving. The mGive Foundation is the charitable partner of Mobile Accord

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Soles4Souls® Inc., a Nashville USA based charity, is committing 100,000 pairs of new shoes to Pakistan Flood victims.

Soles4Souls Inc. is committing 100,000 pairs of shoes to the victims of the floods and monsoon rains that are devastating the country of Pakistan. In conjunction with its partners in the footwear industry and trusted distribution agencies, Soles4Souls is responding to the overwhelming need for appropriate footwear in the midst of rising waters and crushing mudslides.

“We have been moved to action by our international partners who are watching the devastation in Pakistan unfold firsthand and have reached out for assistance,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. “With more than 100,000 people and children being exposed to diseases from the flood waters and debris, we are sending shoes for their security and protection,” he said.

According to Elsey, a pair of decent shoes is absolutely necessary in order to participate effectively in rescue and rebuilding efforts among broken glass, twisted metal, and raw sewage.

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