Key Points
- Heavy flooding across Pakistan has devastated the country, with more than 1,000 dead and millions affected.
- Here's how Australians can lend a helping hand to assist those currently struggling in Pakistan.
Heavy flooding across Pakistan has devastated the country.
Ongoing rain from an intense monsoon season since June has left millions in disarray as they scramble out of destroyed, cut-off areas to reach safety.
The numbers are startling. One-third of the country is estimated to be submerged in water and 33 million people have been impacted. One million homes have been destroyed. Some 200,000 people are now displaced.
More than 1,100 people have lost their lives.
Children are riding boats home from school, carrying their books back to their homes that have since been wiped out.
Children return home after school in a flood-hit area following heavy monsoon rains in Dera Ghazi Khan district in Punjab. Source: Getty / AFP / Shahid Saeed Mirza
Here's how Australians can lend a helping hand to assist those currently struggling in Pakistan.
Tents and packaged food, please
Tents are the most highly sought-out donation item from charity groups at the moment.
As hundreds of thousands of people have huddled in relief camps, some are left with no roof over their heads.
People affected by floods take shelter in tents provided in Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Source: AAP / EPA / Arshad Arbab
"[The people are] were living in weak temporary housing in the rural areas and now they're all gone with the floods. They're sitting under the skies," president of the Pakistani Australian Community Council Syed Atiq ul Hassan told SBS news.
Packaged food, water bottles, blankets, medicine and mattress sheets have all been specifically highlighted as critical items needed urgently.
Torrential rains and storms have left community members helping each other flee their homes. Source: AAP / Pacific Press / Sipa USA
But millions more are needed to ensure everyone who can be accessed is well fed.
'Children are always the worst affected'
Not-for-profit organisation Save the Children is working to ensure children in Pakistan are being protected amid the devastation caused.
Among the 1,100 people who have died due to the flooding, around 348 are children, according to Save the Children.
"It is clear that this is a massive humanitarian and climate emergency. Children are always the worst affected,” Khuram Gondal, Save the Children’s Pakistan country director said in a statement.
Among more than 1,000 people who have died, it is estimated that 348 are children. Source: AAP / EPA / Waqar Hussain
Cash grants to families in need
Nearly all Muslim-run charities in Australia and around the world are calling for support for Pakistan.
Pakistan's state religion is Islam, with more than 95 per cent of the population - 220 million - identifying as Muslim.
One of them is , which is providing cash grants to 3,000 families in three areas across Balochistan so they can spend the money depending on their personal needs.
Support local
According to some local Pakistani communities in Australia, it's best to make sure you know where you are donating.
Some of the Pakistani diaspora members are sending remittances to their family members in Pakistan directly, where they trust the money is being used correctly.
You can connect with local groups and speak with people who have links to those affected.
Purchase a ticket to the cricket
Cricket fans - and others - have been encouraged to grab a ticket to attend Pakistan's first match at the T20 International in the country's largest city, Karachi.
Attending isn't necessarily the point, though.
In a show of solidarity, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that gate fees to the T20 match will be donated to the government's flood relief efforts.
“I encourage all spectators to participate in this initiative by purchasing tickets for the first T20I and turning up in big numbers so that we as a cricketing family can donate a substantial amount to the fund and show solidarity with those affected by the catastrophe," PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said.
Tickets for the September match go on sale next week.
He said trucks loaded with food, medicine and other essentials have already been donated and will continue to assist the country wherever possible.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the people of Pakistan.”
For continued coverage of the Pakistan flood crisis in Urdu, visit / پاکستان کے سیلاب کے بحران کی اردو میں مسلسل کوریج کے لئے دیکھئے .
