INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
rains that triggered the floods.The request came as planes carried supplies to the impoverished country across a humanitarian air
requires an immense humanitarian response for 33 million people
said at a news conference on Saturday.Multiple officials and experts have blamed the unusual monsoon rains and flooding on climate change,
He will visit Pakistan on September 9 to tour flood-hit areas and meet officials.Earlier this week, the UN and Pakistan jointly issued an
appeal for $160m in emergency funding to help the millions of people affected by the floods, which have damaged more than one million
earlier appeal for aid received a quick response from the international community, which sent planes loaded with relief goods.A French
aircraft carrying relief goods landed in Islamabad on Saturday and was received by Minister for National Health Services Abdul Qadir
Those flights were the latest to land in Islamabad overnight.Patel said the relief goods sent by France included medicine and large
dewatering pumps to reduce water levels
He said France has also sent a team of doctors and experts.Pakistan has established a National Flood Response and Coordination Centre to
distribute the arriving aid among the affected population
Iqbal is supervising the army-led centre.The minister said rains this monsoon season have lashed most areas of Balochistan and Sindh
provinces as well as parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces
The Gilgit-Baltistan territory was also affected
Torrential rains and subsequent flash floods caused massive damage to infrastructure, roads, electricity and communications networks.Iqbal
said the government is working to bring normalcy back to the country as soon as possible but that the Pakistani government cannot do it
alone.Major General Zafar Iqbal, head of the flood response centre, said in the news conference that over the last four days, 29 planes
loaded with relief goods arrived in Pakistan from Turkey, the UAE, China, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Turkmenistan and other
countries.Military spokesman Major General Iftikhar Babar said rescuers supported by the military were continuing rescue and relief
He said army aviation, air force and navy troops were using boats and helicopters to evacuate people from remote regions and to deliver
aid.Babar said the army has established 147 relief camps sheltering and feeding more than 50,000 displaced people while 250 medical camps
have provided help to 83,000 people so far.Health officials have expressed concern about the spread of water-borne diseases among the
displaced people living in relief camps and in tents alongside roads.NDMA chief Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz said areas of the country
expected to receive 15-20 percent additional rains this year actually received in excess of 400 percent more
assessment team to Islamabad to see what support it can provide
The United States announced $30m worth of aid for the flood victims earlier this week.Two members of Congress, Sheila Jackson and Tom Suzy,
were expected to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday to visit the flood-affected areas and meet officials.SOURCE: AP--Agencies
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk
