Mohammad Farhan runs multiple charities and orphanages across Pakistan through his organization, House of Dreams. He said his team on the ground in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province called to say they had just watched a nearby hotel flood. “A lot of people were just jumping into the water,” he said. “They were trying to work through the current and some were saved. Some little kids … [they] he could not save them. They just drowned. “It’s scary. There’s no water. There’s no food. There’s people living in the shops. The kids don’t have clothes.” A person walks through a flooded area while carrying a packed shelter tent in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Saturday. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images) Pakistani officials say the floods caused by an unprecedented monsoon season, fueled by climate change, are unlike anything they’ve seen before. About 33 million people in villages, towns and cities were caught off guard by the speed and power of the floods. Hundreds have died. The United Nations children’s agency said this week that more than three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance and are at increased risk of disease, drowning and malnutrition. More than 90,000 cases of diarrhea in a single day were reported from one of the worst-hit southern provinces, Sindh, this week. The northern regions of the country are also running out of drinking water. Skin diseases and eye infections have been captured. Pakistan and the UN have appealed for US$160 million in emergency funding. Millions are affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan. People should support them. Today I am committing $5 million in seed funding for our trusted partners to scale up the humanitarian response and provide critical assistance to those in urgent need. pic.twitter.com/5EDhUPiSzK — @HarjitSajjan UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the floods in Pakistan are a message to the world. “Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change,” he said in a video message at a ceremony in Islamabad to launch the appeal. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif thanked the UAE via Twitter for delivering the first tranche of aid goods worth US$50 million. He also thanked the United States for announcing $30 million in aid. Canada has offered $5 million Cdn.
Memories of the 2013 Calgary floods
Farhan said he had to go back to Canada to take care of his security, limousines and construction companies, but was constantly on the phone with his team as he watched videos of kids living on their roofs, on the streets and pulling a the other. from under the collapsed buildings. He said his team goes door to door, pulling families and pets out of their homes and taking them to higher ground. He and his team were also able to bring three truckloads of food, clothing and aid to the area — but the locals need much more. “We got two cranes the other day and we are cleaning bigger buildings, mosques and houses that have dirt [and mud] up to five to six feet,” he said. WATCHES | The flood situation is “extremely desperate”, says the Foreign Secretary:
Situation in Pakistan ‘extremely desperate’ due to severe flooding, foreign minister says
The recent floods are a “climatic event of biblical proportions,” says Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. It has left a third of the country under water with more rain expected, he says. Farhan said that in some parts of the country, entire buildings are under water and in other places, the water is up to people’s stomachs and knees. He said he was reminded of the “chaos” of the Calgary floods in 2013. “Everybody was afraid to drive downtown, to drive on the freeway because it was full of water. [In Pakistan], some places have no roads. They have nothing.”
“Pakistan has already suffered”
Farhan said many of the more than 200,000 Canadians of Pakistani descent worry about their families back home. Saif Pannu is one of them. After watching COVID-19 ravage Pakistan, Pannu said it was hard to see news that showed more pain and suffering in the country of his birth. Locals cross a railway line damaged by floods in Punjab province on Saturday. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images) “It’s a disaster. It’s really sad,” said the Vancouver businessman. “We were just dating [the] pandemic and suddenly this happens,” said Pannu, who is also president of the Pakistan Canada Association. “Pakistan was already suffering from many other issues. Now villages and towns are under water. I am in pain for that.” Volunteers load relief bags onto trucks for flood victims in Karachi on Saturday. (Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images) Pannu said Pakistanis living in the north helped the army bring food and aid to people living in the southern areas of the country that were hit hardest by the floods. It encourages Canadians to donate money to local charities. “The best thing is to send them money and locally, they can arrange the supplies,” he said. WATCHES | Waterborne diseases:
Waterborne diseases spread by floods ravaged Pakistan
CBC News Network’s Suhana Meharchand talks with Dr. Farah Naureen, Pakistan Country Director for Mercy Corps. “Sending supplies from Vancouver or Calgary is not easy. Neighboring countries help with supplies. Pakistan gets tents from China.” The original government estimates the damage to Pakistan’s economy at $10 billion. “Some families may never [recover]but some people we can bring back home,” Pannu said. “Whole cities, beautiful, unique cities are under water.”
