People in the News, 1st prize
Pakistan Floods
Daniel Berehulak
13 September, 2010
Unusually heavy monsoon rains in July triggered the worst flood in Pakistan’s history.
Daniel Berehulak
A native of Sydney, Australia, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, he has visited more than 60 countries covering history-shaping events, including the Iraq and Afgh...
Dadu, Sindh, Pakistan
Flood victims scramble for food rations in the downwash of a Pakistan Army helicopter, during relief operations in Sindh, the province worst-hit by the floods. Unusually heavy monsoon rains in July triggered the worst flood in Pakistan’s history. Beginning in the northern province of Baluchistan, the flood spread throughout the Indus River Basin to Punjab and Sindh in the south. At one point, around one fifth of the country’s total land mass was under water. Over 20 million people were directly affected by the floods with up to 1,600 killed, as homes were destroyed and crops and livestock were washed away. The country’s infrastructure was devastated as thousands of kilometers of roads and railways were destroyed, in addition to some 7,000 schools and 400 health facilities. The Pakistan government, overwhelmed by the disaster, was accused of being slow to respond. Months after the flood, many Pakistanis were still suffering its effects. The loss of seed for the next planting season and the vast areas left uninhabitable meant even longer-lasting consequences.
Photo credit:
Getty Images
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