THE FLOOD disaster in Pakistan has been described by an Irish Government Minister as a global catastrophe that demands an urgent global response.
Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power said yesterday the devastation caused by the flood was of an almost unimaginable magnitude.
He said the United Nations estimated that 40 million people had been left homeless; that eight million of those were in urgent need of immediate food and shelter; and that the combination of rising water and humidity had made a cholera epidemic a real danger.
Mr Power was speaking at the Department of Foreign Affairs after being updated on the crisis by the Pakistani ambassador to Ireland, Naghman A Hashmi.
Ms Hashmi, speaking after the meeting, said the Irish Government and people had responded very quickly and generously to the unfolding disaster.
Putting the situation into context, she said the number of people displaced equalled 10 times the population of Ireland.
“That is the scale according to the United Nations. It is larger than the Indian Ocean tsunami, the earthquake in Haiti and the Pakistani earthquake of 2005 put together,” she said.
Mr Power said the scale of the catastrophe should not be underestimated because it was not as “visual” as other recent natural disasters.
“By any yardstick this is a global catastrophe and that demands and requires a global response.
“I conveyed to the Pakistani ambassador the fact that Ireland will be part of that global response.”
Mr Power said the Irish response had included making €20 million in relief aid available, as well as providing substantial funding to Irish relief agencies.
He said there were fresh fears that a second wave of rain would arrive, exacerbating the horrendous damage that had already been caused.
Goal’s emergency co-ordinator in Pakistan, Brian Casey, said the crisis was still unfolding as floods spread and hundreds of thousands faced evacuation.
“I witnessed one village being washed away right in front of me,” he said.
“The needs are colossal, the roads are full of people moving away from the floods – some families have moved four or five times and have lost assets on each occasion.
Others have stopped at informal camps that are hugely overcrowded. In one case over 2,000 people were sharing two latrines and people had to resort to open defecation.”
Goal has based its operations in Sindh province in the southeast and plans to distribute food,clothes, blankets, mosquito nets, cooking equipment and plastic sheeting for emergency shelter over the coming days. The charity will also provide water, sanitation and medical support and will aid the emergency evacuation of displaced populations by road and boat.
Up to three million people have been affected in Sindh province alone since the disaster began, Goal said. It is believed that up to 550,000 people have been displaced by the floods in the province, the majority of them in the north where Goal is working.
The agency said more than 1,600 people have been confirmed dead; 15 million people have been affected by the floods while two million have been made homeless.
