Flood

"I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this."

- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The 2010 Pakistan floods began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater. according to Pakistani government data the floods directly affected about 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure, with a death toll of close to 2,000.
By mid-August,the floods had caused the deaths of at least 1,540 people, while 2,088 people had received injuries, 557,226 houses had been destroyed, and over 6 million people had been displaced.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial minister of information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said
"The infrastructure of this province was already destroyed by terrorism. Whatever was left was finished off by these floods."He also called the floods "the worst calamity in our history." Four million Pakistanis were left with food shortages.
The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000 transmission lines and transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood-hit areas.
Aid agencies warned that outbreaks of diseases (e.g. gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and skin diseases) due to lack of clean drinking water. On 14 August, the first documented case of cholera emerged in the town of Mingora. Pakistan also faced a malaria outbreak.
By order of President, there were no official celebrations of Pakistan's 63rd Independence Day on 14 August, due to the calamity. [continues]

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