.“The world’s attention is waning at a time when some of the biggest challenges for the relief effort here are still to come,” said Valerie Amos, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
The flooding that began in July is still continuing to spread, according to U.N. reports, and the disaster has killed more than 1,700 people so far.
While Amos warned that international support for the flood victims appears to be waning, Pakistan’s high commissioner in Sri Lanka, Seema Illahi Baloch, issued an appeal of her own during a press conference in Colombo yesterday.
“We are told that one out of every eight Pakistanis has become destitute,” Baloch said. “One out of every 20 families has lost their homes. There are over four million acres of crops that have gone to waste. Over millions of tons of wheat that were in the store houses have been swept away. These are very critical times for Pakistan. We look towards you for support and for prayers.”
Approximately 6.9 million people have been affected by the floods, which is being described as one of the worst natural disasters the world has seen. According to the United Nations, more than 27,000 square kilometers are still under water and more than 1.8 million homes have been damaged or destroyed
“In some parts of Pakistan, a new disaster is happening every few days and millions of people are still waiting for the support they need to survive,” Amos said.
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