Flood ravages Thatta, distressed people flee city in thousands
FLOODS ravaged the southern city of Thatta in Pakistan leaving the town wrecked and virtually empty. More than 175,000 have vacated the town giving it an eerie look. The floodwaters broke through the third protective barrier made around the city on Saturday. People sought refuge in the higher reaches of the town that also included an ancient graveyard.
As chaos prevailed in Thatta today, main roads from both sides remained clogged with people who managed to make it to safer areas from nearby villages. With no basic amenities, people had to spend their night outside their homes.
Hadi Baksh Kalhoro, a disaster management official in Thatta, gave an estimated figure of 175,000 people fleeing from the city, only a few of them have been left behind. He further added that many of them were heading for nearby towns and cities.
Thatta is located 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major port city of Karachi and the breach in the safety measure that took place early on Saturday could leave the entire city submerged by the end of the day.
A statement from the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that Southern Sindh is the worst affected province so far. Out of its 23 districts, 19 have been ravaged by floods.
Provincial relief Commissioner Ghulam Ali Pasha was quoted as saying that more than seven million people have been displaced in Sindh since August 3, one million only in the past two days. He further added that the magnitude of this catastrophe is so huge that the government cannot cope with it alone.
Original Post @http://www.merinews.com
As chaos prevailed in Thatta today, main roads from both sides remained clogged with people who managed to make it to safer areas from nearby villages. With no basic amenities, people had to spend their night outside their homes.
Hadi Baksh Kalhoro, a disaster management official in Thatta, gave an estimated figure of 175,000 people fleeing from the city, only a few of them have been left behind. He further added that many of them were heading for nearby towns and cities.
Thatta is located 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major port city of Karachi and the breach in the safety measure that took place early on Saturday could leave the entire city submerged by the end of the day.
A statement from the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that Southern Sindh is the worst affected province so far. Out of its 23 districts, 19 have been ravaged by floods.
Provincial relief Commissioner Ghulam Ali Pasha was quoted as saying that more than seven million people have been displaced in Sindh since August 3, one million only in the past two days. He further added that the magnitude of this catastrophe is so huge that the government cannot cope with it alone.
Original Post @http://www.merinews.com
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