U.S. Aid Continues to Flow to Pakistan Flood Victims

Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines

Fly Rescue and Relief Missions

Published August 30, 2010 by:

Charles Simmins

The monsoon related flooding in Pakistan is continuing. The Pakistani National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) reports that, as of August 29,

1,645 deaths and 2,479 injured people are due to the flooding. 1.24 million homes have been damaged.

The current monsoon weather forecast suggests that the rains will abate for several days. This will allow for additional rescue and relief activities, although the floods will require longer to subside. Flooding near the mouth of the Indus River is especially heavy and levee breaches have created many issues.

The latest United Nations report suggest that the situation in Balochistan is increasing in severity, with illness being a primary concern. Security issues in the province may be affecting the delivery of aid.

The United States is providing over $200 million for flood relief efforts, according to the State Department. Here are some of the materials provided as of August 26:

“> An additional 1,000 rolls of plastic sheeting have been delivered to Pakistan, bringing the total of the shelter materials to 5,063 rolls. The plastic sheeting will provide temporary shelter for approximately 152,000 people.

> Three additional mobile water treatment units from arrived today, bringing the total to 9 now in Pakistan. U.S. water treatment units have produced more than 5.4 million liters of clean water since August 8.

> The US brought in an additional 40 Zodiac inflatable rescue boats, bringing the total to 58.

> A total of 440,928 halal meals were delivered to civilian and military officials in Pakistan via U.S. Air Force airlift.

> Emergency relief items were delivered to the National Disaster Management Authority. In addition to the 58 Zodiac rescue boats, the items include: 9 water filtration units, 10 water storage bladders, 30 concrete-cutting saws, 12 pre-fabricated steel bridges and a 25kw generator which was provided to the Frontier Scouts-KPk to support their flood relief efforts.”

The United States military continues its efforts in Pakistan. Eighteen additional helicopters are being deployed to the the country, 10 CH-47 Chinook and eight UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. They are based at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit departed the United States for Pakistan on August 27. The deployment had been moved up by a month in order to allow this humanitarian assistance mission. They will be releaving the Peleliu ARG which has been off the Pakistani coast providing support through the 15^th MEU.

The Department of Defense states “U.S. helicopters have rescued 9,433 people and flown in 1.7 million pounds of goods. C-130s have delivered 985,000 pounds of supplies since operations began.” These efforts include Army helicopters deployed from Afghanistan, Navy helicopters from Bahrain and Marine and Navy helicopters from the Peleliu.

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