Floods: Pakistan races to protect two towns

An internally displaced Pakistani man carries packages of relief aid at a makeshift camp in Sukkur yesterday

Pakistani authorities were yesterday racing to protect two southern towns and their 360,000 residents from surging floods, as the nation struggles to cope with its worst natural disaster in living memory.
Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten towns in Sindh province, where 19 of its 23 districts have been deluged, displacing more than 2.8 million people, according to provincial authorities. Eight million people remain dependent on handouts for their survival, which many say are too slow coming
“The situation is a bit serious in Johi town and Dadu. We are taking all-out measures to save them from ravaging floodwaters,” provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo told AFP.
“The water is 20 kilometres away from Dadu city but we cannot rule out a serious threat to this city,” one of the largest in the north of Sindh, Dharejo said.
Dadu and Johi are about 320 kilometres (200 miles) north of the main southern port city of Karachi and officials fear the waters will breach protective embankments unless they are quickly strengthened.
“Things are getting serious, we have employed all the possible resources on the embankments to save the remaining towns and villages of Dadu district,” Dharejo said.
About 80 percent of the Johi’s population of 60,000 had already fled to safer areas, but the 300,000 residents of Dadu were asked not to panic.
The UN has warned that the slow pace of aid pledges could impede relief operations and says Pakistan faces a triple threat to food supplies – with seeds, crops and incomes hit.