Pakistan's flood fund tops £60m

More than £60million has been raised for the victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan, it was announced yesterday.

So far £60,800,000 has been donated and fund raising will continue until Jan. 2011. The 2004 tsunami and the Haiti earthquake are the only 2 disasters to top this figure.

Brendon Gormley of the Disasters Emergency Committee said: "We’re hugely grateful to everyone who has shown their support. Donors to the DEC can be proud of the work they’re helping to fund.

"The sheer scale of the flooding, however, means that there is an enormous amount of work still to be done."

Slow response from parts of the international community means twenty million people still need urgent assistance.

An estimated 1.9 million homes were damaged or destroyed in the tragedy, and efforts are now needed to help rebuild lives.

Pakistan’s distinct disasters

A logician knows you can’t compare disasters. They also know that most people do. This week will be no exception.

On October 8, 2005, humanitarian aid crews responded to a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the Kashmir region of Pakistan. 5 years later, we mark the grim anniversary with more crews in the country attending to people displaced by flooding.

Logo-emblazoned rations and emergency tents serve as reminders of the earthquake. Not that people need any. In January, a bus containing the remains of 18 people was unearthed from rocks at the side of a road. They were identified through documents they carried and the Kashmir region mourned once more.

There are more than just physical reminders. Last month a new study detailed attitudes of Pakistanis in Kashmir towards Americans. In the areas most hard-hit by the earthquake, more than 60 % people said they trust Europeans and Americans. Just 40 kilometers out, attitudes more reflect the national average of one in six Pakistanis describing the U.S. as an enemy.