Summary
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Situation Update
Heavy Monsoon rains in recent days have led to widespread flooding, reported to be the worst floods in northern Pakistan since 1929. The north-west province of Khyber Pakhtunkwha (KPK) has been the worst affected thus far, the Provincial Government now puts the death toll at nearly 800 people. Up to 25 districts are reported to have sustained significant damage, with Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera among the hardest hit. Large pockets of people have been displaced and are in need of immediate assistance.
The Government of Pakistan is leading the rescue and relief efforts and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has requested for assistance from the Humanitarian Community. The main obstacle remains access to displaced populations as the surface and communication infrastructure has been severely damaged.
Logistics Cluster Update
A dedicated Logistics Cluster Coordinator, Simon Hacker (see contact info below) is on the ground in Peshawar to provide coordination for the response.
A Logistics Cluster coordination meeting was held in Islamabad on 2 August 2010. In the meeting it was decided Peshawar will be the centre for Cluster Coordination and information management activities for the response. The meeting minutes can be found on the Logistics Cluster website (http://www.logcluster.org/ops/pak09a/meeting_minutes_100802/view).
A WFP staff member and engineer were able to reach the Humanitarian Logistics base in Pirpiai. The assessment found no significant damages to the permanent structures (perimeter walls, guard house, etc.) of the base, however the container office and Mobile Storage Units (MSUs) have suffered damages. Food commodities for WFP and non food items for UNICEF and the National Disaster Management Authority have been severely damaged due to the flooding. It was noted that water levels had reached to the top of the doorway of the MSU’s and efforts to salvage what remains are ongoing as the weather permits.
To augment storage capacity the Logistics Cluster is dispatching additional MSUs from PirPiai to Peshawar, additionally 40 humanitarian hubs that were established during the IDP crisis in 2009 could be offered as alternative storage locations. Information management and mapping the areas of concern with updated infrastructure capacities are the key priorities of the Logistics Cluster.
Therefore, the Cluster is acquiring an extensive list of damaged infrastructure in KPK that is being compiled by the Pakistan Government; once received the data will be captured and mapped for sharing with the humanitarian community and will be updated as needed.
The Logistics Cluster is closely monitoring the situation of water levels potentially rising in the Sindh Province and will send staff to assess if the situation requires.