JAMSHORO/THATTA/ABBOTTABAD/SEHWAN: Floodwater released from Manchar Lake amid rising levels has entered Bhan Syedabad after having inundated several villages in Sehwan taluka while Indus River has been in high flood at Kotri Barrage, whereas water level in Sukkur and Guddu barrages is going down rapidly on Saturday.
According to NDMA and PDMA authorities, floodwater released from Manchar Lake amid rising levels has entered Bhan Syedabad after having inundated several villages in the union councils of Wahur, Arazi, Dal, Bubak and Jaffarabad in Sehwan taluka.
According to rescue sources, the floodwater released from Manchar Lake through deliberate cuts has entered Bhan Syedabad town while residents are building a dyke in an attempt to prevent floodwaters from entering the city.
The grid station at Bhan Syedabad also submerged. Indus Highway at Sehwan and multiple link roads are also submerged, disconnecting multiple villages in Dadu and Sehwan areas.
According to NHA sources, the highway is submerged under flood water near Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Sehwan toll plaza. The water level on the location is around 3- feet, they added.
Centre issues report on deaths, damages in Sindh
According t NDMA, floods caused great devastation in Sindh as the death toll on Saturday reached 621, another 11,563 injured, while 16,18,602 homes have been damaged due to the calamity.
The federal government issued a report regarding life and property damages and relief and rescue operations in Sindh amid unprecedented rainfall and floods in the province. At least 621 people have lost their lives to the calamity while another 11,563 have suffered injuries, the report said.
A focal person of flood relief operations told that a total 49,564 cattle have been reported dead amid the floods while over 1,618,602 homes have been damaged. Crops on 45,82,044 acres of land has been destroyed due to the natural disaster, he added.
He added that at least 57 bridges, and 2432 km area of 521 roads has been damaged or demolished in the floods. A total of 1716 relief camps have been established in Sindh where 5,94,620 people are residing. 296 camps have been established in Hyderabad division, 577 in Shaheed Benazir Abad division, 52 in Mirpurkhas division, 269 in Sukkur, 481 in Larkana division while 41 relief camps have been established in Karachi, he added.
Indus in high flood at Kotri Barrage
The water has dropped to blow low flood at Guddu, Sukkur and other barrages in upstream of Indus River.
The Indus River has been in high flood at Kotri Barrage with water inflow has further surged to 6,26,000 cusecs and outflow in the downstream has been 6,00,000 cusecs.
Four off-taking canals from Kotri Barrage carrying 20,000 cusecs of water. The river water exerting pressure at Kotri Barrage and protective dykes from Dadu to Thatta and Sujawal, irrigation sources said.
Several union councils and urban areas of Jamshoro and Kotri have submerged under the river water. Floodwater has entered in homes and residents facing hardships.
The water in the river at Guddu Barrage has further dropped in last 24 hours to inflow 1,65,200 cusecs and outflow of water 1,58,500 cusecs. The water level has dropped at Sukkur Barrage and inflow and outflow of water in the river has been 1,85,000 cusecs.
Indus River water inflow at Tarbela has been 1,57,000 cusecs, while outflow has been 1,55,300 cusecs. The water inflow in river at Kalabagh has been 1,53,200 cusecs and discharge measured 1,45,200 cusecs. The water inflow in Indus at Chashma has been 2,13,500 cusecs and discharge measured 1,95,500 cusecs.
The water inflow in river at Taunsa Barrage has been 1,81,200 cusecs, while outflow has been 1,64,200 cusecs, according to the water record. Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers are flowing below the low flood level, the Flood Forecasting Division said.
13 people die in flood-hit areas of Rajanpur
As many as 13 people died while 3,361 persons sustained injuries during floods in district Rajanpur.
This was told in a briefing given to Punjab Health Minister Dr Akhtar Malik during his visit to flood-hit areas of district Rajanpur. The officials informed that 58 teams of health department were working in the flood-stricken areas to provide treatment facilities to the people in distraught.
Dr Akhtar Malik instructed the officials to employ all possible resources to provide relief to the affectees. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the government will not leave the people alone at this critical phase. Punjab government will continue relief work till rehabilitation of the people.
Dr Akhtar also instructed the local administration to make arrangements on permanent basis to save people of mountain areas from flood devastation in future. He also reviewed dengue and anti polio campaigns in the flood-devastated areas.
Apart from this, the officials were directed to drain out stagnant water as early as possible to avoid further outbreak of diseases.
MNA Sardar Nasrullah Darishak, MPA Owais Darishak, Commissioner DG Khan Liaqat Ali Chathha and some other officers were also present on the occasion.
Nawabshah Airport closed till Sept 25
The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority PCAA in a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) announced to close the Nawabshah airport till Sept 25 as the airport’s runway is still inundated with floodwaters.
Flight operations – including take-off and landing – have been suspended at Nawabshah airport as floodwaters left entire airfield flooded since last month. All flights—between Lahore and Karachi—are advised to use Multan Airport as secondary airport (in bad weather conditions only) in the wake of closure of Nawab Shah Airport. CAA said there are fears that runaway lights may also damage.
Earlier, the Nawabshah airport was temporarily closed after torrential rains battered the city leaving the entire airfield flooded.
The aerodrome remained closed till Aug 26 due to the accumulation of water in the entire airfield.
Meanwhile, the concerned authorities have been directed to restore flight operation at Nawabshah Airport by clearing the airfield.
Abbottabad city once again drowns in flood
Most parts of Abbottabad city including the ground floor of Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) and the main Mansehra road drowned in flash flood water triggered by the heavy downpour which continued for two hours.
Rescue 1122 District Emergency Officer Imran Khan Yousafzai on Saturday conducted relief operations at various places including inside and outside ATH, main Mansehra road near ATH, Supply, Jab Bridge, PMA Road and Fazal Colony, various vehicles and people were reportedly trapped in water those were later recovered.
Hospital Director Dr. Ashfaq Ahmed informed the media that ATH staff shifted patients from 5 flood-affected wards to other wards.
He said that I have been supervising all the operations myself for the last four hours and Dr. Ashfaq also requested the public to cooperate with the hospital staff during this difficult time.
ATH spokesperson Saif told APP that people have diverted the water of the three surrounding ravines and nullah towards ATH which has damaged many wards on the ground floor.
He further said that unfortunately the nullah situated at Small Industrial Estate (SIE) Abbottabad was blocked for reconstruction for the last six months and the water was also diverted towards ATH which has caused a lot of damage in the hospital during the heavy rains.
On the other side, flood water also entered several houses in various areas of the city. More than 66 vehicles stuck in the water were also recovered and moved to safe places by the rescue 1122 personnel.
Due to the rising water level on Mansehra Road, rescue teams faced severe difficulties in rescuing trapped people and vehicles.
Rescue 1122 officials so far have safely recovered more than 50 people and up to 250 school children and shifted them to safe places.
The rescue medical team provided first aid to more than 10 people, including children and women and were still busy in other relief operations.
Meanwhile, the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) forecast that mainly hot & humid weather remained in most parts of the country. Light to moderate rainfall occurred at isolated places in Northeast Punjab, Upper KP and Kashmir.
In next 24 Hours, rain-thundershower is expected in Kashmir, upper KP, Islamabad, Potohar region and Gilgit-Baltistan. While hot and humid weather is expected in other parts of the country.
Damages to Infrastructure & Private Property
The NFRCC in its update reported that during past 24 hours, most infrastructure damage in Sindh and KP include a total of 6,579km roads, 246 bridges and 173 shops.
Most Affected Districts
Worst affected districts of Sindh include Qambar Shahdad Kot, Jacobabad, Larkana, Khairpur, Dadu, Noshero Feroz, Thatta and Badin.
In Balochistan, Quetta, Naseerabad, Jafarabad, Jhalmagsi, Bolan, Sohbatpur and Lesbela are the most affected districts while KP, Dir, Swat, Charsadda, Kohistan, Tank and DI Khan and in Punjab, DG Khan and Rajanpur were worts affected districts.
Army Relief Efforts
So far 463 Army Aviation helicopters sorties have been flown to various areas for evacuation of stranded people. In last 24 hours, 17 sorties have been flown and evacuated 90 stranded individuals & delivered 22.7 Tons of relief items to the flood affectees. Moreover, uptill now 4354 stranded Individuals have been evacuated through helicopter sorties.
Relief Camps/ Relief Items Collection Points
So far 147 Relief Camps and 284 Relief Collection points in Sindh, South Punjab & Balochistan have been established across the country for flood affectees.
Donations
Up till now 6463.8 Tons of food items along with 1170.7 Tons of sustenance items and 3457842 medicine items have been collected so far. However, 6028.6 Tons of food 1126.7 Tons of sustenance items and 3232292 medicine items have been distributed uptill now.
International Donations
International Donors including Turkey provided 4008 tons Food Packets, 1000 x Baby Food Packets, 460 x tents, 864 x Kitchen Set, 2000 x Bedding, 50 x Boats, 1000 x Hygiene Boxes & 15.6 ton Medicines.UAE added support with 129 tons Food Items, 916 x Food Packets, 1000 x tents, 1000x Bedding & 6.9 ton Medicines.
China have given 3000 x Tents, while Belgium 300 x Tents, Japan 588 Tents and 306 Tarpaulin, Uzbikistan supported with 25 tons food items and 9 ton bedding , Qatar 2.55 tons of medicines, France has given 204 Tents, 208 kitchen set; 1125 bedding and 422 hygiene boxes.
USA: 2 flights of food and sustenance items for the flood victims arrived Pakistan while 5 goods flights are planned in coming days. A total of 12 flights of UNICEF, UNHCR ,WFP and RC have reached so far.
Medical Relief
More than 250 medical camps established so far in which more than 102721 patients have been treated all across the country and provided 3-5 days’ free medicine.
Pakistan Navy Relief and Rescue Efforts
Pakistan Navy has established four Flood Relief Centers, six Central Collection Points, two tent cities accommodating 4,439 Personnel and 55 Medical Camps in which 36,331 patients have been treated across the country. The PN distributed 1,241 tons of ration, 2,860 tents & 490,577 liters mineral/fresh water to affected people in various districts.
Moreover, Pakistan Navy’s 23 x Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) equipped with 45 x motorized boats and 02 x Hovercrafts deployed in 10 x districts have rescued 13741 x stranded personnel.
Pakistan Navy has also deployed 02 x helicopters in interior Sindh. Uptill now, in 49 x sorties have been flown, these helicopters rescued 465 x stranded people and distributed 3502 packets of ration and 300 Kg of medicine. 08 x Diving Teams of Pak Navy have also carried out 26 x Diving operations in affected areas across the Pakistan.
Pakistan Air Force Relief and Rescue Efforts
Pakistan Air Force has also conducted 88 C-130, 92 MI-17, 54 AW-139 air sorties, rescued 1521 personnel, distributed 4800 tents, 216,004 food packets, 2583.98 Tons Ration, 183,269 liters water, and established 19 tent cities accommodating 18,441 people, 50 relief camps and 41 medical camps in which 45,354 patients have been treated across the country so far.
At present, PAF is fully committed in Sindh, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Talhaar, Jacobabad, Sehwan and Perpatho. In Baclochistan, the PAF has been carrying out relief and rehabilitation activities in Samungli, Qilla Abdulllah and Qilla Saifulllah while in Punjab, Rajanpur and DG Khan. In GB, Gilgit Skardu, Ghizer, Naltar, Ganche. In KPK, Nowshera, Charsadda, Kheshgi, Saidu Sharif, Shangla, Laram remained under focus.
