Background: |
UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon described the flooding in Pakistan in 2010 as the worst disaster he had ever seen. The River Indus flooded the regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, approximately one fifth of Pakistan's total landmass.
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Physical Causes of the Flood
- Record-breaking monsoon rains hit parts of Pakistan attributed to La Nina were the main cause of the 2010 flood. In Peshawar, 312mm of rain fell in 24 hours, breaking the previous record of 187mm in 24 hours comfortably.
- Monsoons occur every year in the Indian sub-continent, as the land warms up during long and hot days, and winds rush in from the ocean in the south bringing moist air with them and creating monsoon storms.
- Climate change too has been argued to have had a hand in causing an event with such severity, which Pakistan officials called 'the flood of the century'
- Deforestation, as with many floods, is an issue due to the reduced infiltration and increased surface run-off.
Human Causes of the Flood
- Corruption - In response to heavy flooding in 1973 and 1976, Pakistan Created the Federal Flood Commission that was in charge of creating and managing effective flood defneces. Over the course of the 33 years since its inception, it had received over $900m, and although documents show that money had been spent and flood defences complete, reports suggest that due to corruption this was not the case. As a result, Pakistan was under prepared for a major rainfall event.
- Building settlements on the floodplains. Pakistan is one of the poorer countries of the world, 22% of its population lives in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 per day. The build quality of settlements close to the river is poor and prone to collapse during flooding, which accentuates the problem.
Political Impacts
Economic Impacts
Environmental Impacts
- The floods directly affected 20 million people.
- Around 800,000 square kilometres of land flooded.
- Around 10,000 power lines were damaged causing a power shortage in the country.
- Death toll - 1781.
- 1.89 million homes destroyed.
- The Karakoram Highway, a major freight route in Pakistan and a link with China was closed after a bridge was destroyed.
- 4 million people left with food shortages, in need of aid.
- Political situation was already volatile in Pakistan with terrorism threats from insurgents increased as aid was slow in reaching some parts of Pakistan, and organisations with terrorist ties gave out free aid in a bid to gain support.
Economic Impacts
- Total economic impact estimated at $43 billion.
- Damage to buildings - $4billion.
- Damage to crops - $500million.
- The flood cost 5.3 million jobs
- A growth in GDP before the flood of 4% per year fell to up to -5% per year following the flood, which hit a country that already owed $55billion to other countries hard.
- 10 million livestock lost.
Environmental Impacts
- 1.4 million hectares of agricultural crop land lost.
- unexploded mines in the north of the country was washed downstream causing problems in uncertainty with their location.
- Stagnant water began causing secondary hazards, most notable diseases such as cholera began to take hold in some areas.
Aftermath
- In an effort to prevent future disasters, the government designed 'disaster-resillient' model villages.
- The climate and development knowledge network received extra funding to start new projects to allow a better understanding of future major flooding events.
- Worldwide donations for the disaster relief effort totalled $687 million. Compared to the Mississippi floods which received very little foreign aid, this is common in LEDC disaster areas, where more foreign aid is necessary to help rebuild.
Five Key Points
- The floods were caused primarily by unusually high amounts of monsoon rains. 2010 was a record breaking year for rainfall.
- One fifth of Pakistans landmass was under water at the height of the floods.
- The death toll from the flood was just shy of 2000, which is low compared to other natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis in comparable areas
- There was a real worry about extremist organisations gaining political ground due to a slow relief effort.
- Pakistan was a country that was improving before the floods, with growth in GDP and debts being paid off, but this was setback by the floods.