2010 pakistan floods

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2010 Pakistan floods

The 2010 Pakistan floods began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh,Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin.

Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater, approximately 796,095 square kilometres(307,374 sq mi).[3][4][5] According to Pakistani government data the floods directly affected about 20 million

people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure, with a death toll of close to 2,000.[1]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had initially asked for US$460 million (¼420 million) for emergency relief,

noting that the flood was the worst disaster he had ever seen. Only 20% of the relief funds requested had been

received as of 15 August 2010.[6] The U.N. had been concerned that aid was not arriving fast enough, and

the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe

water.[7] The Pakistani economy was harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops.[8] Damage to

structures was estimated to exceed US$4 billion (¼2.5 billion), and wheat crop damages were estimated to be

over US$500 million (¼425 million).[9] Total economic impact may have been as much as US$43 billion (¼35

billion).[10][11]

[edit]Causes

US Army helicopter flies over a flood-affected area.

The floods were driven by rain.[12] The rainfall anomaly map published by NASA showed unusually intense

monsoon rains attributed to La Niña.[13] On 21 June, the Pakistan Meteorological Department cautioned that

urban and flash flooding could occur from July to September in the north parts of the country. [14] The same

department recorded above-average rainfall in the months of July and August 2010 [15] and monitored the flood

wave progression.[16] Discharge levels were comparable to those of the floods of 1988, 1995, and 1997. [17] The

monsoon rainfall of 2010, over whole country, was excess of 87 per cent and was highest since 1994 and

ranked second highest during last 50 years of period. [18]

An article in the New Scientist [19] attributed the cause of the exceptional rainfall to "freezing" of the jet stream, a

phenomenon that reportedly also caused unprecedented heat waves and wildfires in Russia as well as

the 2007 United Kingdom floods.[20]



In response to previous Indus River floods in 1973 and 1976, Pakistan created the Federal Flood Commission

(FFC) in 1977. The FFC operates under Pakistan's Ministry of Water and Power . It is charged with executing

flood control projects and protecting lives and property of Pakistanis from the impact of floods. Since its

inception the FFC has received Rs 87.8 billion (about 900 million USD). FFC documents show that numerous

projects were initiated, funded and completed, but reports indicate that little work has actually been done due to

ineffective leadership and corruption.[21]

[edit]Flooding and impact

[edit]Floods

Satellite images of the upper Indus River valley comparing water-levels on 1 August 2009 (top) and 31 July 2010 (bottom)

Monsoon rains were forecasted to continue into early August and were described as the worst in this area in

the last 80 years.[22] The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported that over 200 millimeters (7.9 in) of rain

fell over a 24-hour period inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.[23] A record-breaking 274 millimeters (10.8 in)

rain fell in Peshawar during 24 hours;[24] the previous record was 187 millimeters (7.4 in) of rain in April

2009.[25] As of 30 July, 500,000 or more people had been displaced from their homes. [22] On 30 July, Manuel

Bessler , head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that 36 districts were



involved, and 950,000 people were affected,[26] although within a day, reports increased that number to as high

as a million,[27] and by mid-August they increased the number to nearly 20 million affected.[28]

By mid-August, according to the governmental Federal Flood Commission (FFC), the floods had caused the

deaths of at least 1,540 people, while 2,088 people had received injuries, 557,226 houses had been destroyed,

and over 6 million people had been displaced.[21] One month later, the tally had risen to 1,781 deaths, 2,966

people with injuries, and more than 1.89 million homes destroyed. [1]

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial minister of information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said "the infrastructure of

this province was already destroyed by terrorism. Whatever was left was finished off by these floods." [29] He

also called the floods "the worst calamity in our history."[30] Four million Pakistanis were left with food

shortages.[31]

The Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, was closed after a bridge was destroyed. [32] The

ongoing devastating floods in Pakistan will have a severe impact on an already vulnerable population,according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition to all the other damage the

floods caused, floodwater destroyed much of the health care infrastructure in the worst-affected areas, leaving

inhabitants especially vulnerable to water-borne disease.[33] In Sindh, the Indus River burst its banks

near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi. [31] Law and order disappeared, mainly in

Sindh. Looters took advantage of the floods by ransacking abandoned homes using boats. [34]

Affected areas as of August 26, 2010



In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely affected northern

regions toward western Punjab, where at least 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of cropland were

destroyed,[31] and toward the southern province of Sindh.[35] The affected crops

included cotton,sugarcane, rice, pulses, tobacco and animal fodder . Floodwaters and rain destroyed 700,000

acres (3,000 km2) of cotton, 200,000 acres (800 km2) acres each of rice and cane, 500,000 tonnes of wheat

and 300,000 acres (1,000 km2) of animal fodder.[36][37] According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association,

the floods destroyed 2 million bales of cotton, which increased futures prices.[38][39] 170,000 citizens (or 70% of

the population) of the historic Sindh town of Thatta fled advancing flood waters on 27 August. [40]

By mid-September the floods generally had began to recede, although in some areas, such as Sindh, new

floods were reported; the majority of the displaced persons had not been able to return home. [1]

[edit]Heavy rainfalls r ecorded during the wet spell of July 2010

Heavy rainfalls of more than 200 millimeters (7.9 in) were recorded during the four day wet spell from 27 July to

30 July 2010 in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab based on data from the Pakistan

Meteorological Department.[24]

City Rainfall (mm) Rainfall (in) Province Notes

Risalpur *415 16.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[24]

Islamabad 394 15.5 Islamabad Capital Territory [24]

Murree 373 14.6 Punjab [24]

Cherat *372 14.6 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [24]

Garhi Dopatta 346 13.6 Azad Kashmir [24]

Saidu Sharif *338 13.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [24]

Peshawar *333 13.1 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [24]

Kamra 308 12.1 Punjab[24]



City Rainfall (mm) Rainfall (in) Province Notes

Rawalakot 297 11.7 Azad Kashmir [24]

Muzaffarabad 292 11.5 Azad Kashmir [24]

Lahore 288 11.3 Punjab [24]

Mianwali *271 10.6 Punjab [24]

Jhelum 269 10.6 Punjab [24]

Lower Dir 263 10.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [24]

Kohat *262 10.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [24]

Balakot 256 10.0 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[24]

Sialkot 255 10.0 Punjab [24]

Pattan 242 9.5 Azad Kashmir [24]

DIR 231 9.10 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[24]

Gujranwala 222 8.7 Punjab [24]

Dera Ismail Khan 220 8.6 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[24]

Rawalpindi 219 8.6 Punjab [24]

* Indicates new record.



[edit]Aftermath

The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000

transmission lines and transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood-hit areas. Flood water

inundated Jinnah Hydro power and 150 power houses in Gilgit. The damage caused a power shortfall of 3.135

gigawatts.[41]

Aid agencies warned that outbreaks of diseases (e.g. gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and skin diseases) due to lack

of clean drinking water and sanitation pose a serious new risk to flood victims. [42][43] On 14 August, the first

documented case of cholera emerged in the town of Mingora, striking fear into millions of stranded flood

victims, who were already suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhea.[44][45][46] Pakistan also faced

a malaria outbreak.[47]

The International Red Cross reported that unexploded ordnance, such as mines and artillery shells, had been

flushed downstream by the floods from areas in Kashmir and Waziristan and scattered in low lying areas,

posing a future risk to returning inhabitants.[48]

The United Nations estimated that 800,000 people were cut off by floods in Pakistan and were only reachable

by air. It also stated that at least 40 more helicopters are needed to ferry lifesaving aid to increasingly

desperate people. Many of those cut off are in the mountainous northwest, where roads and bridges have been

swept away.[49]

By order of President Asif Ali Zardari, there were no official celebrations of Pakistan's 63rd Independence

Day on 14 August, due to the calamity.[50]

[edit]Potential long term effects

[edit]Food

Floods submerged 17 million acres (69,000 km2) of Pakistan's most fertile crop land, killed 200,000 livestock

and washed away massive amounts of grain. A major concern was that farmers would be unable to meet the

fall deadline for planting new seeds in 2010, which implied a loss of food production in 2011, and potential long

term food shortages.[51] The agricultural damage reached more than 2.9 billion dollars, and included over

700,000 acres (2,800 km2) of lost cotton crops, 200,000 acres (810 km2) of sugar cane and 200,000 acres

(810 km2) of rice, in addition to the loss of over 500,000 tonnes of stocked wheat, 300,000 acres (1,200 km 2) of

animal fodder and the stored grain losses.[52][53]

Agricultural crops such as cotton, rice, and sugarcane and to some extent mangoes were badly affected in

Punjab, according to a Harvest Tradings-Pakistan spokesman. He called for the international community to fully

participate in the rehabilitation process, as well as for the revival of agricultural crops in order to get better GDP

growth in the future.



In affected Multan Division in South Punjab, some people were seen to be engaging in price-gouging in this

disaster, raising prices up to Rs 130/kg. Some called for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited to write off all agricultural

loans in the affected areas in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa especially for small farmers.[54]

On 24 September the World Food Programme announced that about 70% of Pakistan's population, mostly in

rural areas, did not have adequate access to proper nutrition. [55]

Already resurgent in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, agricultural

devastation brought on by the floods left Pakistan more susceptible to an increase in poppy cultivation, given

the crop's resiliency and relatively few inputs.[56]

[edit]Infrastructur e

Floods damaged an estimated 2,433 miles (3,916 km) of highway and 3,508 miles (5,646 km) of railway and

repairs are expected to cost at least 158 million USD and 131 million USD, respectively. [9] Public building

damage is estimated at 1 billion USD.[9]

Aid donors estimate that 5,000 schools were destroyed.[57]

[edit]Taliban insurgency

It was reported that the flood would divert Pakistani military forces from fighting the Pakistani

Taliban insurgents (TTP) in the northwest to help in the relief effort,[58] giving Taliban fighters a reprieve to

regroup.[59][60] Helping flood victims gave the US an opportunity to improve its image.[61]

Pakistani Taliban also engaged in relief efforts, making inroads where the government was absent or seen as

corrupt.[62] As the flood dislodged many property markers, it was feared that governmental delay and corruption

would give the Taliban the opportunity to settle these disputes swiftly.[62] In August a Taliban spokesperson

asked the Pakistani government to reject Western help from "Christians and Jews" and claimed that the

Taliban could raise $20 million to replace that aid. [62][63]

According to a US official, the TTP issued a threat saying that it would launch attacks against foreigners

participating in flood relief operations.[64] In response, the United Nations said it was reviewing security

arrangements for its workers. The World Health Organization stated that work in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

province was already suffering because of security concerns. [65]

An self-proclaimed Taliban spokesperson based in Orakzai told The Express T ribune: ³We have not issued any

such threat; and we don¶t have any plans to attack relief workers." [66]Nevertheless three American Christians

were reported killed by the Taliban on 25 August in the Swat Valley.[67]

[edit]Political eff ects

The floods' aftermath was thought likely contribute to public perception of inefficiency and to political unrest.

These political effects of the floods were compared with that of the 1970 Bhola cyclone. The skepticism within

the country extended to outside donors. Less than 20% of the pledged aid was scheduled to go through the



government, according to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, with the remainder flowing through non-

governmental organizations.[68][69][70][71][72][73][74] The government's response was complicated by insurgencies

(inBalochistan and Waziristan), growing urban sectarian discord, increasing suicide bombings against core

institutions and relations with India.[75]

[edit]Economic eff ects

On 7 September 2010, the International Labour Organization reported that the floods had cost more than 5.3

million jobs, stating that " productive and labor intensive job creation programmes are urgently needed to lift

millions of people out of poverty t hat has been aggravated by flood damage" .[76][77][78] Forecasts estimated that

the GDP growth rate of 4% prior to the floods would turn to -2% to -5% followed by several additional years of

below-trend growth. As a result, Pakistan was unlikely to meet the International Monetary Fund's target budget

deficit cap of 5.1% of GDP, and the existing $55 billion of external debt was set to grow. [79] Crop losses were

expected to impact textile manufacturing, Pakistan's largest export sector. The loss of over 10 million head of

livestock along with the loss of other crops would reduce agricultural production by more than

15%. Toyota and Unilever Pakistan said that the floods would sap growth, necessitating production cuts as

people coped with the destruction. Parvez Ghias, the chief executive of Pakistan's largest automotor

manufacturer Toyota, described the economy's state as "fragile". Nationwide car sales were predicted to fall as

much as 25%, forcing automakers to reduce production in October±2010 from the prior level of 200 cars per

day. Milk supplies fell by 15%, which caused the retail price of milk to increase by Pk Rs 4 (5 US cents) per

liter.[80][81][82]

2010 pakistan floods

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