Flashfloods in Pakistan: A Major Cause of Concern

The world today is far different and not as safe as before. Climate change has long been blamed for numerous disasters and catastrophes that have deeply affected the lives of millions of people. The frequent occurrence of earthquakes has caused widespread damage to infrastructure and made more people homeless. Tsunamis have also swept the land taking the lives of thousands or even millions of people. But perhaps the most destructive of them all are abnormal weather patterns that have caused flashfloods and made more people homeless.

In recent news, the country of Pakistan was ravaged by unexpected flashfloods submerging a fifth of the nation’s total land area. Estimates reported that over 10 percent of the population which is roughly 20 million people is deeply affected by this catastrophe. More than 1,500 people were already killed by the floods and about 3.5 million children are in imminent danger of contracting various deadly diseases such as cholera, acute diarrhea and malaria. The millions of people who are stranded are also in danger of starvation and may lack clean drinkable water. Without the necessary help, thousands more may die.

Pakistan currently relies in foreign aid to help give their people basic commodities for survival such as food, water, clothing and medicine. Currently, there have been a lot of countries who contributed already only that it is still not enough to alleviate the problem. The U.S. government has recently pledged $150 million along with 12 transport helicopters. Other countries such as U.K., Japan and France have offered $48.5 million, $10 million and $1 million respectively. It is sad to note that the U.S. is only able to offer so much when in fact it has spent over $100 billion just to battle Taliban forces.

The destruction to property and livelihood may have caused not only starvation to Pakistanis but also reshaped their thinking about survival. The influence brought by severe poverty may cause more Pakistanis especially the young ones to consider Islamic extremism as a primary means to survive. This in turn provides a severe threat to security for the U.S. and the weakened Pakistani government. Without ample help, Pakistanis are forced to commit crimes or even join the Taliban for relief.

The U.S. along with other nations should take this matter very seriously. If the U.S. is very much capable of spending so much money in procuring military hardware and staging many different wars, then they must also focus in saving lives and maintaining trust among the Pakistani people. International cooperation is badly needed to save millions of Pakistanis and prevent further hostilities in the region.