Floods Facts

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 

OCHA: Monsoon Floods Situation Report # 24 (14 Sept. 2010)

This report was issued by UNOCHA Pakistan. It covers the period from 9 to 14 September. The next report will be issued on or around 17 September.

HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES

• The emergency continues to unfold in the southernmost province of Sindh. Additional towns and villages in Dadu and Jamshoro districts have been flooded in recent days, as Manchar Lake breached its banks.

• The health cluster warns of an increased risk of malaria, particularly in the south, in the coming days and weeks.

• A fully revised floods response plan, the Floods Emergency Response Plan (FERP), will be launched in New York on 17 September by United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos.

• Though 74% of the requirements set out in the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan (PIFERP) have now been covered, massively scaled up donor support will be needed to meet the increased requirements set out in the FERP.

OCHA: Monsoon Floods Situation Report # 23 (9 Sept. 2010)

This report was issued by UNOCHA Pakistan. It covers the period from 6 to 9 September. The next report will be issued on or around 14 September.

HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES

• Six weeks on from the onset of the floods, almost 12 percent of Sindh province is estimated to be under water.

• Ms. Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator visited affected areas in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces on 8 and 9 September.

• An additional US$12.7 million has been contributed against the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan (PIFERP), bringing overall coverage to 67%. Funding has been uneven however, and the WASH cluster is facing a 70% shortfall against its initial requirements.

FAO Flood Facts (3 Sept. 2010)

 

AGRICULTURE SITUATION OVERVIEW

The scale of losses to the agriculture sector caused by the Pakistan floods is unprecedented and further unfolding.
• Approximately 4 out of 5 people in the flood-affected areas depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
• One of the greatest challenges on the ground is helping farmers to recover their land in time for wheat planting beginning in September/October and to prevent further livestock losses.

• Across the country, millions of people have lost their entire means to sustain themselves in the immediate and longer term, owing to the destruction/damage of standing crops and means of agricultural production (e.g. seed stocks, irrigation, livestock, farmland).

• The latest cumulative estimates are as follows:

• the Agriculture Cluster rapid damage assessments, completed in half of all flood-affected districts, found that 1.3 million hectares of standing crops have been damaged
• countrywide damage to millions of hectares of cultivatable land, including standing crops (e.g. rice,maize, cotton, sugar cane, orchards and vegetables) appears likely
• loss of 0.5-0.6 million tonnes of wheat stock needed for the wheat planting season
• death of 1.2 million large and small animals, and 6 million poultry (Department of Livestock)

• While the full extent of the damage still cannot be quantified and assessments are ongoing, the direct and future losses are likely to affect millions of people at household level, as well as impact national productive capacity for staple crops, such as wheat and rice.

• Response to needs in the agriculture sector cannot be underestimated nor delayed.

OCHA: Flood Facts (3 Sept. 2010)

Flood waters continue to move through Dadu and Thatta districts in Sindh; on 3 September, water was reported to have entered Khairpur Nathan Shah town in Dadu.

Despite the challenges, the response continues to scale up; the food cluster estimates that it has now distributed over 50,000 mt of food to over 4 million people.

No significant changes have been reported in terms of funding. Over three weeks after the Pakistan Initial Floods Response Plan was launched, just 30% of the requirements of the WASH cluster have been covered.

USAID: Pakistan – Floods Fact Sheet #11, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010
(1 Sept. 2010)

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

- The Government of Pakistan (GoP) Ministry of Water and Power reports that all rivers in eastern Pakistan are flowing normally, and water levels are decreasing at all barrages in Pakistan, including the southernmost Kotri Barrage in Sindh Province. On August 31, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that floodwaters had begun receding in parts of southern Punjab Province, allowing families to return home. NDMA noted that returnees in Punjab were rebuilding mud homes, and markets had reopened.

- Parts of Sindh Province continue to experience flooding, particularly in Dadu, Qambar Shahdadkot, and Thatta districts. Relief agencies are establishing an additional humanitarian coordination unit in Hyderabad to respond to the declining situation in southern Sindh, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Five USAID/OFDA-funded international and U.N. organizations are currently working in Sindh, and six USAID/OFDA NGO grantees have expanded relief activities further south into affected areas of Sindh.

- To date, the U.S. has provided other civilian and military in-kind assistance in the form of halal meals, pre-fabricated steel bridges and other infrastructure support, as well as air support to and within Pakistan to transport goods and rescue people, valued at approximately $20 million.

Facts about the 2010 Pakistan floods (26 Aug. 2010)

(Data source: Reuters, dated 20 Aug. 2010)

• There have been more than 1,600 deaths.
• 4,000,000 people have been rendered homeless.
• 8,000,000 people have been identified as needing urgent assistance and medical care.
• Up to 20,000,000 people have been affected by the floods.
• Up to 3,500,000 children are in danger of contracting water and insect borne diseases.
• The floods have ruined over 1,600,00 acres of crops and 200,000 livestock have died.

Pakistan Health Cluster Bulletin (21 Aug. 2010)

Number of reporting disease cases is increasing. Until 18 August, 204 040 of acute diarrhoea, 263 356 cases of skin diseases and 204 647 of acute respiratory have been reported in flood-affected provinces. 

COMMUNICABLE DISEASE SITUATION UPDATE FLOOD AFFECTED DISTRICTS, PAKISTAN (18 AUG, 2010)

This report by the the WHO and the Ministry of Health provides an overview of the situation related to communicable diseases based on data from 53 districts (out of 73 flood affected districts) in all four provinces of Pakistan.

PAKISTAN FLOODS 2010 – A CLOSER LOOK ANALYSIS BY CASSIM INVESTMENTS (PVT) LTD (18 Aug 2010)

Identified Areas of Damage as of 17 August 2010:

Crops

Cotton: This is the worst hit crop, as according to initial estimates we have lost as much as 2 million bales. This may lead to more imports of cotton by the value added sector, adding further pressure to the Current Account Deficit and thereby causing further devaluation in the exchange parity.

Wheat: Wheat plantations were also damaged by flooding. At this point, we do not have any estimate of the damage. Given that we had a small surplus last year, we expect that the surplus will be lost for this year.

Rice: Pakistan may not be able to meet its target of rice export this year, as we expect losses on this front as well. We will lose the opportunity to earn foreign exchange therefore causing a widening current account deficit.

Sugar: We have estimated a loss of 500,000 tons of sugar cane, approximately 2 – 3% of the sugar cane demand. We believe this will have a minimal impact on the availability of refined sugar.

Public Infrastructure

Many Schools, hospitals, bridges, roads, highways, electricity and gas networks have been affected or destroyed mainly in KP, and some areas of Punjab. All these will have to be rebuilt to facilitate economic activity. According to the government’s initial plans, 50% of the current year’s planned PSDP will be reallocated towards reconstruction. However, these projects will take place over a long term horizon.

Government’s relief effort needs to be carried out on an urgent and top priority basis.

Private Infrastructure

According to initial estimates, around 800,000 – 1 million houses have been destroyed. Small scale businesses have suffered large losses due to loss of infrastructure and inventories (damage to the crop and livestock included). Rehabilitation will need to involve monetizing affected persons through subsidies for rebuilding of houses, businesses and working capital in the near term. Government has not announced such a plan as yet, and although this will be difficult to implement logistically and transparently, immediate resolution is required as any delays will compound the problem.

On a positive note, some field experts are of the opinion that agriculture will benefit in the long run as the flooding, will make the soil more fertile due to renewal of soil, and natural removal of salts thus decreasing its salinity.

Overall Economy

The expected import of goods for relief purposes will widen the Current Account Deficit. However, Foreign Aid will help reduce the deficit ifreceived in time. Foreign Aid in the form of debt will help in the short term, but will constrict the amount of PSDP available with the financial cost burden in the future. A Current Account Deficit will cause devaluation of the currency, which is beneficial for sectors withexports.

If the above devastation is not addressed fast enough, we expect an elongated slowdown of economic growth because agriculture, which is the hardest hit sector, accounts for as much as 20% of the GDP.

Comparison of 2010 Pakistan Floods to Recent Global Natural Disasters (17 Aug 2010)

The United Nations rated Pakistan’s floods as the greatest humanitarian crisis that the UN has ever faced. Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said: “This disaster is worse than the 2004 India Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.” Here the National Disaster Management Authority Pakistan provides information comparing the 2010 Pakistan floods to recent global natural disasters.

Flood Facts (14 Aug. 2010)

• (8-11-10) – 1,600 casualties UN
• (8-11-10) – 2.6 million acres of crop land inundated UN
• (8-11-10) – 14,000 cattle dead UN
• (8-10-10) – 14 million people affected CNN
• (8-10-10) – 1,245 confirmed casualties CNN
• (8-10-10) – 1,334 people injured CNN
• (8-10-10) – 337,282 people rescued CNN
• (8-10-10) – 302,000 houses damaged CNN