UN warns of second wave of Pakistani flood deaths

Roiling floods triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rain have scoured Pakistan’s  Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing more than 2 million from their homes and disrupting 14 million people or 8% of the population.

The UN was due to launch an appeal for several hundred million dollars to help flood victims. “If we do not respond soon enough to the urgent needs of the population, if we don not provide life saving assistance as soon as is necessary, there may be a second wave of death caused by diseases and food shortages,” said UN humanitarian operations spokesman Maurizio Giuliano.

Hundreds of roads and villages have been destroyed, countless villages and farms have been inundated, crops destroyed and livestock lost. The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm.

The UN says the disaster is the biggest the country has ever faced and it would cost billions of dollars to rehabilitate the victims and rebuild ruined infrastructure.