ATLANTA (July 6, 2007) - CARE has begun emergency operations in some of the areas most heavily affected by Cyclone Yemyin that hit southwestern Pakistan last week, but relief supplies are running out. The storm brought widespread rain, high winds, and flooding particularly in the Baluchistan and Sindh regions. At least 150,000 people are left homeless and hundreds were killed in the disaster.
Immediate relief efforts have been hampered by limited communications and severe road damage in the worst affected areas. The casualties have gone into the hundreds, and are likely to rise as hundreds more people are still missing. The Baluchistan Province is said to be the worst affected, with a million people affected by the floods.
Although relief and rescue operations are underway by the government, United Nations and aid agencies, communities are facing severe shortages of medicines, food supplies, health facilities, safe drinking water and sanitation services.
CARE is providing emergency packs including water purification items, hygiene kits and kitchen sets to around 5,000 most vulnerable families, many headed by women with children. To meet the mounting health needs in the flood affected areas, CARE is also providing mobile medical health care facilities to hundred of patients. The medical facilities are focusing on the primary and reproductive health care needs of mothers and children. CARE is now seeking funding to expand services immediately to 30,000 people.
Cyclone Yemyin traveled from the North Arabian Sea and entered the coastal areas of southwestern Pakistan on June 26, ruining lives, livelihoods and property. The problems have been compounded by a weak weather front that brought heavy rains and flash flooding in northern parts of the country, causing water levels in the local rivers to rise to dangerously high levels.
CARE has experience working in some of the most logistically challenging areas of Pakistan, in sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation, and emergency response. We continue to work with communities in the remote areas of the North West Frontier Province, affected by the devastating 2005 South Asian Earthquake, which killed over 70,000 people and affected around 3.5 million in northern parts of Pakistan. During the earthquake response, CARE helped more than 380,000 people through providing emergency shelter, education, health, water, sanitation, infrastructure and housing.
