Flood victims in South Asia face economic devastation and threat of waterborne diseases

Weeks of continuous monsoon rains and severe flooding have wreaked havoc across South Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Pakistan. According to the UN OCHA Regional Office for Asia Pacific, over 40 million people have been affected. Flood waters have submerged entire villages, devastated over a million acres of agricultural crops, and left people stranded on river embankments and rooftops. There is a severe shortage of food, drinking water, and shelter, and outbreaks of waterborne diseases pose a significant public health threat. Concern Worldwide provided immediate disaster relief in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, and is currently scaling up its response in all three countries. Concern has launched an emergency appeal to meet the urgent and ongoing survival needs of flood victims in the affected areas.
COUNTRIES AFFECTED
According to an August 15th update from the UN OCHA Regional Office for Asia Pacific, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan are the countries most severely affected by the flooding. Although water levels are receding, monsoon season is not over, and the standing water in and around villages are breeding grounds for waterborne diseases and pose serious public health threats. Recent heavy rains in China, North Korea, and southern provinces of Pakistan have resulted in massive damage to crops, homes, and livelihoods. (See UN OCHA map for more details on areas affected by floods.)
In a statement regarding the scale of the damage, Mr. John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said, "For most families affected by these floods, the recovery of their livelihoods will be arduous and protracted. Six weeks with nothing but uncertainty can feel like forever."
CURRENT STATUS
In Bangladesh, the floods have caused enormous economic and physical damage. Over 9.5 million people have been severely affected, losing their homes and their primary means of generating income. To date, 481 people have died, and the government has reported over 58,440 people admitted to hospitals with diarrhoea. The International Center for Diarrhoeaal Disease Research (ICDDRB) reports that the rate of admission of diarrhoea patients at the center is between 900 and 1000 every 24 hours. Approximately 1.5 million acres of crops have been damaged, destroying the primary source of income for millions of people. Over 89,000 homes have been totally destroyed, and 650,000 have been partially destroyed.
In all 38 flood-affected districts of Bangladesh, there are severe outbreaks of waterborne disease, including serious diarrhoeaal diseases. Flood waters continue to inundate much of the eastern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, and many people have taken shelter in government offices and schools.
In India, continuous heavy rains have affected more than 11 million people. Flood waters have submerged or marooned several hundred villages, displacing several hundred people. More than 60,000 houses have collapsed, and many houses have been submerged under eight to ten feet of water. In villages cut off by the flooding, there is a shortage of food and drinking water, and the rains have left agricultural laborers without work for weeks. Farmers face extensive damage to and loss of crops.
Cyclone Yemyin hit Balochistan Province in Pakistan on Tuesday, June 26, 2007, bringing heavy rain, flooding and winds of up to 80 miles per hour. An estimated 2.5 million people have been affected by the floods in late June and early July, and 202 lives have been lost. An estimated 360,000 people have been left homeless.
A total of 15 out of 29 districts across the province have been affected from coastal areas to more inland districts of Balochistan. Bridges and communications infrastructures have been badly damaged and many areas remain inaccessible by road.
In North Korea, heavy rain has resulted in rivers bursting their banks, flooding huge areas of farmland and destroying thousands of homes. Access is still impossible to many of the affected, but current reports suggest that hundreds of people have been killed or are missing and that more than 30,000 houses have been destroyed. In addition, at least 800 public buildings, more than 540 bridges and extended sections of railway are reported to have been destroyed by the rain. The impact on agricultural production is likely to be considerable. Even in a good year, North Korean needs food assistance, and any additional loss of production could have serious medium-term consequences.
"The current torrential rains are causing heavier damage to farm crops than the previous ones in our country," said Ri Jae-hyon, Department Director of the DPRK Ministry of Agriculture, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
CONCERN WORLDWIDE'S RESPONSE
Bangladesh
Concern has completed its relief response for 11,000 families in Sirajganj, Mainkganj and Faridpur districts. Concern was the first INGO to respond in Faridpur, the Law advisor Barrisster Mainul Hosein commended Concern's and its partner agencies quick response to help the affected people.
A 15 day food ration will be distributed to 4,000 families within this week, consisting of rice 30 kg, Pulse 3kg, Oil 2 liter, Salt 1 kg, oral rehydration salts 5 packets, Soya protein biscuits 10 packets.
High-energy biscuits are being distributed to 13,916 families in four districts (Faridpur, Rajbari, Shariatpur and Magura). Each family will receive 3kg biscuits as a supplementary food for four days.
Concern and its partner agencies are monitoring the ongoing effect of the floods and are investigating the need to establish a second phase response with the delivery of a further food ration.
India
Concern's team is assessing the impact of the floods in four districts, and plans to provide life-saving services to 10,000 families in Bihar, including emergency relief items such as water purification tablets, buckets and soap as well as food rations and sheeting for temporary shelter. Concern will also provide tarpaulin sheets to 6,500 families and cooking utensil sets to 4,000 households whose houses have been washed away. In Orissa, Concern plans to provide livelihood restoration support to about 2,500 households.
Pakistan
Concern responded quickly to the emergency created by the cyclone and floods in three flood affected districts of Balochistan. Assisting 3,400 flood affected families, Concern provided emergency relief food packages containing wheat flour, dates, rice, pulses, oil and high-energy biscuits - enough to feed a family for two weeks. Essential non-food items such as shelter, mosquito nets, hygiene kits, jerry cans and water purification tablets were also provided to each of the families.
Concern has been one of the leading agencies in this humanitarian response. It was involved in the initial assessment of the affected area with other members of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum. Concern's Emergency Program Officer was nominated to join the World Bank/Asian Development Bank team in their detailed assessment of the needs of the affected communities. We will continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks.
North Korea
Access to many of the flood-affected areas is still impossible, and the full extent of damage is still unknown, but the Concern program team has managed to reach one of its established program areas and is hoping to provide construction materials for families displaced by floods and to support the reconstruction of a clinic in Unhung Ri. The program team will complete an assessment of other program areas as soon as it is possible to access them.
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