Pakistani Prime Minister: Some areas look like the sea after floods
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that parts of Pakistan look "like the sea" after inspecting some of the flood-affected areas that cover up to a third of the country.
This comes as the floods claimed 18 more lives, bringing the total number of victims to 1,343.
About 33 million of the population of 220 million were affected by the disaster, whose losses officials estimate at least ten billion dollars.
"You will not believe the extent of the devastation. There is water everywhere and as far as the eye can see. It is like the sea," Sharif told the media after visiting the southern province of Sindh.
He added that the government, which has raised cash assistance for flood victims to 70 billion Pakistani rupees ($313.90 million), plans to buy 200,000 tents to house displaced families.
He pointed out that the receding water includes another challenge, which is the infectious diseases transmitted through water.
"We will need trillions of rupees to meet this disaster," he said.
The United Nations has appealed for $160 million in aid to support flood victims.
Many of those affected are from the southern province of Sindh, where the waters of Pakistan's largest freshwater lake are perilously close to flooding, even after a drainage attempt has displaced 100,000 people.
Disaster management officials said eight children were among the victims in the past 24 hours.
The floods were caused by record monsoon rains and melting snow in the northern mountains of Pakistan.
A senior official at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the situation could worsen, with more rain expected next month.
The World Health Organization has already announced that more than 6.4 million people need humanitarian support in the flooded areas.
It washed away 1.6 million homes, destroyed 5,735 km of roads and railways, 246 bridges and communication systems, and led to the death of 750,000 head of livestock, and inundated more than two million acres of farmland.
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