- Sep 2, 2008
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U.N. declares Pakistan floods the worst natural disaster ever as number of people affected hits 13M
Cripes. How unfortunate to read and hope they are willing to recover.
ISLAMABAD (AP) The number of people suffering from the massive floods in Pakistan exceeds 13 million more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United Nations said Monday.
The death toll in each of those three disasters was much higher than the 1,500 people killed so far in the floods that first hit Pakistan two weeks ago. But the U.N. estimates that 13.8 million people have been affected over 2 million more than the other disasters combined.
"The number of people affected by the floods is greater than the other three disasters combined," Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told The Associated Press.
A person is considered affected by the floods if he or she will need some form of assistance to recover, either short-term humanitarian aid or longer-term reconstruction help, said Giuliano.
The total number of people affected in the three other disasters was about 11 million 5 million in the tsunami and 3 million in each of the earthquakes said Giuliano.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday that the floods were a bigger crisis than the 2005 Kashmir earthquake that killed nearly 80,000 people and the army's operation against the Taliban in the Swat Valley last spring that drove more than 2 million people from their homes.
Cripes. How unfortunate to read and hope they are willing to recover.