Authorities evacuated tens of thousands from flood-threatened areas in the south on Sunday but insisted that the 2.5 million people of Hyderabad were safe from the nation's worst-ever inundation. Civilian government has faced an outpouring of fury over sluggish relief efforts, while officials are warning the country faces ruinous economic losses of up to 43 billion dollars, ahead of IMF talks this week.
The month-long floods have killed 1,500 people and affected up to 20 million nation-wide, according to official tallies, with the threat of disease ever-present in the miserable camps sheltering penniless survivors.
"We are right now trying to protect Shahdadkot town, which is threatened by the rising floodwaters," Sindh irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo told AFP. He said an embankment built to protect the city was under pressure from the waters and "we are trying to save the city from the unprecedented flood".
Dharejo said the Sindh government had already escorted most of Shahdadkot's 100,000 population to safety. "But there are still some people stranded in these villages (around Shahdadkot) and we are making efforts to rescue them," he added.
Dharejo, however, stressed there was no threat to Hyderabad, the second-largest city in Sindh and Pakistan's sixth biggest overall. Streets were deserted and all markets shut in Shahdadkot and a group of people were seen loading their belongings into a private vehicle before leaving, an AFP photographer in the town said.
"People have migrated to safer places as they are afraid that the floodwater may inundate this town," farmer Mehram Ali told AFP. He said the majority had gone to Larkana or Sukkur towns, adding he had come back to Shahdadkot from Larkana to see if "my town is safe".
Grocer Asghar Ali was hurriedly packing up his luggage to leave the area. "I cannot believe my eyes when I look at the empty town, which used to hum with activity just until a few days ago," he told AFP.
The UN has increased its initial estimate of the number of people without shelter from two million to six million. "We have more than doubled the rate at which we are delivering relief but, since August 11, the number of people who need emergency shelter has undoubtedly more than tripled," Giuliano said. "We are in a race against time." The UN World Food Programme said it urgently needed helicopters to get food to millions of flood victims who remain cut off by the high waters, although weather forecasters say the monsoon systems are easing off. The WFP warned that the floods have killed or are threatening millions of livestock, and launched an urgent appeal for animal feed.
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