Foreign media: Floods spread to Pakistan, 8 more affected areas
Reference News Network reported on September 4. According to a report on the website of Singapore’s “Lianhe Zaobao” on the 3rd, the floods in Pakistan have spread to more areas, and 8 more disaster areas have been added to the list of 80 affected areas.
According to Bloomberg, Pakistan’s Minister of Planning, Development and Special Projects Ahsan Iqbal said by phone on the 3rd that torrential rains hit otherwise unaffected areas in northern Pakistan, triggering massive flooding that spread to the southern province of Sindh.
“The situation has not improved … we are still in the rescue and relief phase,” he said.
Pakistan’s rainfall reached its highest level in 30 years, and about a third of the country was submerged in floodwaters, reports said. The extreme weather has killed more than 1,200 people and caused an estimated $10 billion in economic damage.
The floods reportedly affected 33 million people and damaged more than 1 million homes. Iqbal said it was expected to take quite some time for the affected areas to return to normal because of drainage problems.
According to reports, the United Nations World Health Organization has issued an alert on the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid in the affected areas.
<!–enpproperty 83453642022-09-04 11:28:18:260