It’s
Friday prayer time in Turbat and the loudspeakers are eerily
silent, when they would normally be blaring the call to prayer.
However the mosques of this remote town, which lies 75km from
the Iranian border, are full anyway, with flood-ravaged residents
seeking some comfort.
Turbat is located in the Kech valley in the south-western corner
of Baluchistan and has been cut off by road since 26 June. There
is no power. The flood waters and rain, which accompanied cyclone
Yemyin, tore through the town and surrounding districts, damaging
or destroying homes and infrastructure.
Following the heavy rains, residents now have to endure blisteringly
hot, humid conditions. This area of Pakistan is harsh and unforgiving
at the best of times, with a bleak landscape of brown compacted
mud, rocks and craggy mountains devoid of much vegetation.
Two staff members from the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies reached Turbat on 28 June and quickly
discovered what the urgent needs are.
“Food is the number one priority at the moment,”
says the International Federation’s disaster management
coordinator in Pakistan, Asar ul Haq.
“This place is completely cut off. While the flood water
has subsided, all major roads have been damaged and bridges
have been washed out. With no traffic coming in, food is becoming
scarce in some places,” says ul Haq.
The International Federation, working with the Pakistan Red
Crescent, is arranging for a one week ration of food for 3,000
families to be brought in. The food may have to be delivered
by one of the government’s C-130 Hercules flights, which
have begun arriving, if the roads aren’t repaired soon.
Turbat is just one of hundreds of towns and villages affected
across seven districts of Baluchistan. The provincial relief
commissioner estimates that 900,000 people may have been affected
by the storms and flooding.
“The major problem is access and communications,”
ul Haq explains. “Much of Baluchistan is remote and sparsely
populated. With roads out, telephone lines down and electricity
off, finding out who is affected is as big a challenge as helping
them.”
The local authorities say it will be days before the full impact
of the cyclone and deluge will be known. There is a reported
death toll of 34 in Baluchistan, but that is at best a “guesstimate,”
according to officials.
There is a sense of frustration amongst affected communities
who can do little but sit and wait. Schools have become emergency
shelter centres, jam packed with disgruntled families whose
homes were washed away.
Local Principal Mohammad Baksh surveys his classrooms, now full
of flood affected people, and recounts how he and his family
fled as the Sorab dam burst, wiping out 95 percent of the 500
homes in his village.
“In the night, suddenly the dam burst washing away our
houses. We were left homeless and barely escaped and took refuge
here. We desperately need food…we don’t have anything
to eat and we need shelter,” he said.
A Pakistan Red Crescent assessment team is on its way from Quetta
to Turbat to work with the International Federation team already
there. They will also help coordinate the delivery of 2.1 tonnes
of medical supplies, which are being sent from Red Cross Red
Crescent warehouses in the North West Frontier Province, which
was hit by a devastating earthquake almost two years ago.
The Baluchistan response follows on from the efforts of the
Pakistan Red Crescent supported by the International Federation
and the ICRC in the neighboring province of Sindh.
The Pakistan Red Crescent is running medical camps in slum areas
of Karachi, treating affected people following the 23 June storm
which claimed over 200 lives. The teams saw over 1,000 patients
in just three days – many of them children.
The National Society is also operating medical and relief teams
in the districts of Dadu and Thatta, which have suffered flooding
as a result of heavy rain.
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The
destructive effects of Cyclone Yemyin are graphically
apparent by this destroyed bridge on the coastal highway
in Baluchistan which runs parallel to the Arabian Sea
coastline. Resultant heavy rains following the cyclone
have affected 250,000 people in Baluchistan, with many
people cut off due to damaged roads or marooned by water.
(p15859)
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The
Nawaz family from the Gadaab slum area of Karachi had
their one-bedroom home destroyed by the violent storm
which hit the city on 23 June. Thirteen members of the
family were trapped in the rubble and 19-year-old Rahimzadi
died as a result of her injuries. The Pakistan Red Crescent
is operating mobile medical teams in the area while it
will be distributing food packs to 500 families in Gadaab.
(p15860)
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Turbat
is located in the Kech valley in the south-western corner
of Baluchistan and has been cut off by road since 26 June.
There is no power. The flood waters and rain, which accompanied
cyclone Yemyin, tore through the town and surrounding
districts, damaging or destroying homes and infrastructure.
(p15861)
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