UN chief says Pakistan floods 'heart-wrenching' (Pic Heavy)

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described as "heart-wrenching" the destruction he witnessed on a visit to flood-devastated Pakistan.

Mr Ban said the scale of the disaster was greater than anything he had seen before. He again urged the world to speed up aid to the country, saying shelter and medicine were desperately needed.

The Pakistani government says up to 20 million people have now been affected by the monsoon floods.

=snip=

"This has been a heart-wrenching day for me and for my delegation," Mr Ban said at a press conference, stood alongside President Asif Ali Zardari. "I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have seen scenes of natural disaster around the world, but nothing like this. The scale of this disaster is so large. So many people in so many places in so much need."

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10981230

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CNN International Report (Video & Text): http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/15/pakistan.floods/index.html?hpt=T1#fbid=5tFS21of5oJ&wom=fals

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10951517">
BBC: Asian Monsoon's Range of Devastation (Click on image to go to the link)


A man marooned by flood waters, alongside his livestock, waves towards an Army helicopter for relief handouts in the
Rajanpur district of Pakistan's Punjab province


Pictures taken from US rescue helicopter shows the flooded area of Kallam valley


An aerial view from a Pakistani army rescue helicopter shows personnel distributing water to flood-affected residents in Ghouspur


An aerial view from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter shows a damaged bridge washed out by the floods in Ghazi


A girl floats her brother across flood waters while salvaging valuables from their flood ravaged home


Pakistani villagers stand on the remains of a bridge washed away by heavy flooding in Bannu in northwest Pakistan


BEFORE - This QuickBird satellite image depicts the city of Nowshera, Pakistan, prior to the flood that left the area
devastated.


AFTER - This half-meter WorldView-2 image depicts Nowshera, Pakistan in the wake of the massive flood.

[OhioChick]

1. Truly heartbreaking...

Thanks for keeping up with this situation.

This catastrophe is just awful and bound to worsen.
I hope the people get the help they truly deserve.

K&R

[sabrina 1]

2. Millions of people displaced. Where will they go?

Also, Pakistan has been taking in refugees from Afghanistan who have now been displaced again.

If Pakistan becomes a failed a state how will that affect the War in Afghanistan?

I am glad the UN is focusing on the disaster because even after the floods subside, there will likely be a food crisis of mammoth proportions.

And the flooding is not over. Reports say they expected more yesterday.

Those poor people.

[OhioChick]

5. You raise some good questions....

I think that many Americans already feel that Afghanistan is a failed state. (Rightly so)
Now, if Pakistan becomes a failed state as well....right next door to one another...hell, that's a large ass area of land......that whole region better watch the fuck out. (Excuse my language) I believe it's in every country's best interest to help out in this catastrophe, and to avoid large scale destabilization.

You are right about a crisis coming of mammoth proportions and my heart goes out to those that are already feeling that crisis.

[sabrina 1]

9. Afghanistan, yes but it wasn't always, not until the super powers

decided to play chess using the country as their chess board. Now they have radicalized so many people in the region, it is like powder keg that the lid is not very tight on. And this disaster could blow it right off if, as some news sources are saying, the Taliban takes the opportunity to regroup.

Eg, in one area of Pakistan, I forget the name of it now, but I recognized it when I saw the news that everyone was under water there and desperate, the NATO forces and the Pakistani army had 'cleared out' the Taliban, as it was a Taliban controlled area. Now, the Taliban is moving back in, so, nature had other plans, after all the fighting over that area, the deaths and suffering, nature has handed it back to the Taliban. And that's just one small area. The Pakistani army is unable to cope with such issues now, they totally involved in just saving lives.

[OhioChick]

20. I completely agree with your assessment & analogy n/t

[Turborama]

6. Hi Sabrina

Yes, at the press conference they were talking about a minimum two year period to get the crops recovered.

"If Pakistan becomes a failed a state how will that affect the War in Afghanistan?" I was thinking exactly the same thing just now.

And the effect on its other neighbors. The potential ramifications that could be unfolding are catastrophic.

Have you seen this NYT article yet, it discusses what we were considering the other day...

In Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/science/earth/15climate.html?_r=1&hp

[Turborama]

3. A "heart wrenching" video from Sky News

Cholera Fears Mount After Pakistan Floods

Aid workers in Pakistan fear up to 300,000 could contract cholera in the aftermath of the country's devastating floods.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's been visiting the worst affected areas to see for himself the extent of the damage.

He's called on the international community to step up efforts to help the 20 million people affected.

Sky's Paul Harrison reports: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP5M3y7ypc8

[sabrina 1]

4. Hi Turborama,

thanks for following this very important story.

I wonder if you saw these photos? This guy attracted a lot of attention when the photo below appeared in the news and people wondered who he was as he seemed like a super hero from a movie:


A soldier evacuating residents carries a flood victim to a helicopter in Sanawa, Pakistan's on August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)

Another photo of what appears to be the same soldier.



A Pakistan Army soldier rests between air rescue operations on August 9, 2010 in the Muzaffargarh district in Punjab, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Whoever he is he will be busy rescuing people for a long, long time.

[Turborama]

7. No, I hadn't seen that top one before. He is a super hero!

Thanks for sharing them.

I saw a report earlier about truck owners (private citizens) doing whateber they can to help by going around gathering food donations and loading their trucks up. The thing is, when they get to where the food is needed and try to distribute it, fights break out because they don't have any security and people are starving & have become so desperate. I think it was on Al Jazeera English, I'll post it in the videos forum if I can find it.

[sabrina 1]

8. Yes, he stood out and seemed like a symbol of

power capable of just swooping in, picking people up and taking them to safety. He is a hero, bless him whatever Gods he prays to.

I am not surprised to hear about the food riots starting already. The response to this disaster, considering the Pentagon has plans for to supposedly deal with something like and which they predicted would as a result of Climate Change, has been dismal.

A few years ago, maybe two or three, I came across stories of food riots in India and some other places around the world.

I wrote a diary about it on another board as the question was being asked then, if this was a sign of the beginning of those predictions. This was just before the economic collapse hit this country's consciousness. But in third and second world countries it had already begun to have consequences. My title as I recall was a question asking if this would be coming to the U.S. any time soon? Then Iceland collapsed and other European countries.

I can't find it now as the board in questions was a small one, but I wish I could find the photos at least.

I guess what I'm saying is that ordinary people were looking around and seeing things that appeared to be warning signs. Yet, it looks like this disaster, which should have been prepared for considering the strategic political position of the country, has come as big surprise to the world's major powers.

[Turborama]

27. Here's the video of the report I was talking about....

I got it slightly wrong, the guys with the trucks have been filling them with food paid for by themselves.

This is truly heartbreaking and isn't getting anything like the attention the Haiti earthquake got...

Fighting for food in Pakistan

As the victims of Pakistan's worst-ever floods grow ever more desperate, the generosity of their fellow citizens is having unforeseen consequences in one aid camp.

When a food distribution truck arrives laden with aid paid for by ordinary Pakistanis, fighting breaks out amongst the people it meant for. Al Jazeera English's Imran Khan reports: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ocsNruW6Q

More reports from AJ English: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/floodofmisery/e

[mnhtnbb]

10. But the majority of them are...wait for it...Muslims! Don't hold your breath

for the media in the US to promote aid to Pakistan.

I doubt that the teabaggers will be holding fundraisers to send aid, either.

It's sickening. Just sickening. Imagine what good we could do if we made
our military available for disaster relief around the world instead of blowing
up other countries to ensure access to oil.

[sabrina 1]

17. Yes, if we were not involved in two wars right now, and could

use our military strength to save lives that would do far more for our National Security than going around the world killing people.

Now, even though the U.S. is sending help to Pakistan, the motives are questioned. It's not so long ago that our drones killed hundreds of civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

How does look now to think of those wasted lives, and it makes us look hypocritical to, on the one hand claim we had to kill them while on the other we are now claiming we only want to help them.

I am coming to the conclusion that this country has been ruled by fools lacking any ability to make decisions that would benefit this country for decades now. And much of the anger towards us is simply blowback from our extremely misguided and brutal policies of always siding with the bad guys, in the ME and in South America.

This time the U.S. has successfully created a dangerous bigotry towards one sixth of the world's population which is now coming back to haunt them, as Nature appears to be taking over and we are left trying to figure out what to do to in a situation of our own making where our own interests are now seriously threatened and we don't have the moral authority to do what is right without arousing suspicions.

[defendandprotect]

25. Nice post -- Smart people make smart decisions ... which is inconvenient for elites ---

They prefer "fools" who will do their bidding --

[sabrina 1]

34. Thank you, yes, smart people, especially if they have

a conscience, are not popular with rulers of the world. I just wish there was something we could do about it before it's too late.

[Turborama]

11. BBC: UN chief speaks of sorrow over of Pakistan flood crisis - Video (tissues alert)

August 15 2010 Last updated at 17:18 GMT

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described as "heart-wrenching" the destruction he witnessed on a visit to flood-devastated Pakistan.

Mr Ban, speaking at a news conference alongside Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, said the scale of the disaster was greater than anything he had seen before.

He again urged the world to speed up aid to the country, saying shelter and medicine were desperately needed.

The Pakistani government says up to 20 million people have now been affected by the monsoon floods.

Video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10981706

[OhioChick]

12. More U.S. helicopters arrive in Pakistan for flood relief

More U.S. helicopters arrive in Pakistan for flood relief

2010-08-15 06:48:27

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two U.S. Navy helicopters arrived in Pakistan on Saturday as part of the U.S. assistance to Pakistan's flood relief effort, the U.S. State Department said.

The two Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters are part of the 19 helicopters urgently ordered to Pakistan on Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the State Department said in a statement, adding the remaining aircraft will arrive over the next few days.

The U.S. assistance to the flood-affected areas of Pakistan has totaled 76 million U.S. dollars, the State Department said on Thursday.

Washington is wooing Pakistan's support to salvage its war efforts in Afghanistan, including holding the first bilateral strategic dialogue in March and providing attractive aid packages to Islamabad.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/15/c_13445366.htm

[Turborama]

14. Thank you for that update. Here's a good BBC report on it I just found (Video)

Andy Moore reports: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10978448

[Turborama]

13. BBC: The scale of Pakistan's floods from the air (Video)

As Pakistan's flooding crisis continues unabated, the southern part of the nation's most populous and economically important province is bearing the brunt of the huge volume of water that has passed down the Indus River in recent days.

The Punjab administration is scaling up its response, but says the needs of the flood victims are way beyond its means.

BBC World Affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge joined a Punjab-government aid mission to the beleaguered town of Rajanpur.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10960887

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread and pics, Turborama.

[earcandle]

16. My imagination is so full of images: HAARP wiping out the evidence of suicide clones,

 training camps, and who knows what else?  

Are those barracks, those long grey bits? .  

[defendandprotect]

18. Global Warming ... the true product of capitalism and its destruction of nature ....

[sabrina 1]

19. Yes, scientists are linking these latest disasters

to Global Warming. In fact looking at the tragic images from Pakistan, the mud-slides in China, the Wild Fires in Russia it's hard not to remember the Pentagon's predictions about what they said at the time would be the greatest threat to our national security (NOT Osama Bin Forgotten already). Huge migrations of people to escape these disasters, food riots (we already these starting several years ago in India and elsewhere as the failure of Capitalism hit poorer nations before it started to affect European countries and the U.S.

Greed and runaway capitalism caused the destruction of this planet. Many people are saying that deforestation created conditions that made these floods far more devastating then than they should have been. And the same for the mudslides in China.

I wonder if it isn't too late. I blame the deniers of climate change and the reasons for it for much of what is happening, and of course those who raped the planet for profit. I always wondered why they didn't think of their own futures, even if they didn't care about anyone else's?

[defendandprotect]

23. The pity is that we knew all of this almost 60 years ago .... in fact, scientists

recognized in the late 1880's the devastating effect the industrial revolution

was having on nature --

Scientists have continued to warn us -- after JFK there was little likelihood that

any administration would sufficiently react.

Scientists again warned us in 1992 -- which was met again by the corporate-press.

There's also a 50 year delay in the effects of Global Warming -- we're only now feeling

the result of human activity up to 1960 --

everything accelerates even faster after that --

Ironically, the insane desire of the few to "have control" over nature and other humans

will leave humanity with no control whatsoever over our futures!

If there is any future for this planet--


This is the most important issue for government and the people --

We need to dump capitalism and get serious about what's going on --


I guess the upside on this story is that Obama is no longer sending drones in to kill

Pakistanis??

:eyes:

[pnorman]

21. It may be stupid and perhaps insensitive

to pick a shot of two little kids to personify the horor that's now taking place. But this one got to me:

[defendandprotect]

24. Pictures certainly take you there .... in the end, we may all be "Katrina'd" ....

The scale of these disasters keep increasing -- and the reaction by government

continues to be "la,la,la,la,la,la,la" -- !!!

[riderinthestorm]

26. I don't know about insensitive but in our media saturated environment, it works.

I am really horrified at how blase the US public is about this disaster. It just doesn't feel as though it's getting the same degree of focus that other natural disasters have gotten. I can't help but speculate on why this is getting such short shrift, and all of the reasons are ugly.

Pics like this one though are what may break through to an apathetic western teevee audience. God knows Pakistan needs aid on an unprecedented scale.

Just heartbreaking

:cry:

[JNelson6563]

22. They're all horrifying but that last 2 pics of the before and after

Wow! Just wow.

Julie

[Turborama]

28. Some More Pics...

Nasa satellite images show the swollen Indus river
and two of its tributaries, the Jhelum and Chenab rivers.

The top photo was taken on 10 July, the bottom one on 11 August


Stranded people surrounded by floodwater look up at a Pakistani army helicopter sent to evacuate them
in Mirpur Buriro


A photograph taken from a Pakistani army helicopter show the extent of the flooding in Sindh province



Flood victims tussle for food parcels dropped by a Pakistani army helicopter near Sukkur, Sindh province


Ali Mardan leads his two donkeys through floodwaters near Sukkur, Sindh province


Flood victims wait to be evacuated by a Pakistani navy vessel in Sangi Patan



A girl displaced by the flooding carries bottles of drinking water at a camp in Nowshera
(The city in the before and after satellite pics in the OP)

[steve2470]

29. U.N. Chief Says More Aid Needed for Pakistan

Source: Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday that he had never seen anything like the flood disaster in Pakistan and urged foreign donors to speed up assistance to the 20 million people affected.

“I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today,” Mr. Ban said after flying over hard-hit areas with President Asif Ali Zardari. “I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this.”

The secretary general visited Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis struck there in May 2008, killing an estimated 138,000 people. Two months earlier, he flew to Sichuan Province in China, just days after an earthquake killed nearly 90,000 people.

Mr. Ban’s comments also reflected the concern of the international community about the unfolding disaster in Pakistan. The country is battling militants with Al Qaeda and the Taliban and has a weak and unpopular government, while its anemic economy is propped up by international assistance.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/world/asia/16pstan.html?hp

[OhioChick]

30. K&R n/t

[cosmicone]

31. Dupe n/t

[OhioChick]

32. Heaven forbid there are 2 threads on Pakistani's dying.

:eyes:

[ChromeFoundry]

33. I'll take care of that Rec you took away. n/t

[sabrina 1]

35. It's hard to understand anyone unrec'ing a thread like this.

But the hateful propaganda we have been exposed to since Bush went on his crusade has stirred up some frightening bigotry that I admit, I naively thought was pretty much history.

It's very sad to witness ...... thank you for rec'ing, I had already done so earlier.

[OhioChick]

36. It baffles me..... n/t