BREAKING NEWS

Flooding submerges new towns in Pakistan's south

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUGUST 21, 2010 09:54

SUKKUR, Pakistan — About 150,000 Pakistanis were forced to move to higher ground as floodwaters from a freshly swollen Indus River submerged dozens more towns and villages in the south, a government spokesman said Saturday.

Officials expect the floodwaters nationwide will recede in the next few days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea. Survivors may find little left when the return home, however: The waters have washed away houses, roads, bridges and crops vital to livelihoods.

Already, 600,000 people were in relief camps set up in Sindh province during the flooding over the past month.

The floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining its civilian government as it also struggles against al-Qaida and Taliban violence. At least 6 million people have been made homeless and 20 million affected overall. The economic cost is expected to run into the billions.

The United Nations has appealed for $460 million in emergency assistance, and the U.S. has promised $150 million. Pakistan said it would even accept $5 million in aid from India, its archrival.

The floods began July 29 in the northwest of the country after exceptionally heavy monsoon rains, expanding rivers that have since swamped eastern Punjab province and Sindh province in the south.

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