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Aug. 16th, 2010 01:13 am
Pakistan floods 'heart-wrenching' - UN chief
Seriously, look at that image. That's the whole country map, not a subsection. Everything in blue has been affected. The mountainous areas to the left of the blue part, I suppose, are not very populated.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described as "heart-wrenching" the destruction he witnessed on a visit to flood-devastated Pakistan.
[...]
The Pakistani government says up to 20 million people have now been affected by the monsoon floods.
[...]
On Wednesday the UN launched a $459m (£294m) appeal for emergency aid for Pakistan. It said that billions of dollars would be needed in the long term.
[...]
Ban Ki-moon and President Zardari flew by helicopter over four districts of Punjab, the province known as this country's bread basket.
Now from the air it looks like a land of sprawling lakes. Valuable crops like sugar cane and wheat are under water. Mud houses are submerged, millions have fled.
The visitors were greeted with loud applause when they visited a relief camp set up by the Pakistan military. It is now home to about 1,000 displaced people.
They cheered when Ban Ki-moon said he hoped they would soon go home.
But their homes are gone and there are millions of Pakistanis facing the same uncertain fate. The UN says not even half are receiving aid.
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