Pakistan Receives More Flood Aid, but Need Grows
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JAMPUR, Pakistan -- In some places, the water covers everything, dotted only by the tops of mango trees. Even here, with homesteads and roads on slightly raised lands, mud-brick houses have dissolved and all that remains are pitiful piles of debris where they once stood.
Livestock and people camp on dirt roads that are often the only dry spots between acres of water. People cram into boats ferrying between villages, while a few motorbikes wend their way through the shallows.
As Pakistan grapples with a staggering disaster that has left millions homeless and many more cut off without food or clean water, the urgency of the situation was made clear to Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who broke up a visit to Afghanistan to view the flood damage here on Thursday.
He flew over a vast expanse of flooded villages in Punjab Province with Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, as the waters spread across the plain for miles; crowds swarmed at the edge of their landing pad. More than 1,100 people were housed in neat blue tents in an army compound, but their anxiety and frustration was palpable.
As Pakistani officials briefed Mr. Kerry beside his helicopter, the governor of Punjab asked aloud whether the people were very angry. "Naturally they are angry," the district commissioner, Hassan Iqbal, answered. Mr. Zardari frowned.
Both here and at home, American officials spoke of the vast humanitarian task ahead, hoping to bolster the relationship between the nations, which is widely viewed as critical for stability in the region.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged countries to step up their response to the devastating floods, pledging an additional $60 million in aid. That raised the total American commitment to $150 million.
Speaking to a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, she referred to the feebleness of the global fund-raising effort so far.
First Published August 20, 2010 2:01 am
