All about the news

Pakistan floods: 20 million affected and counting

This is just a wee post on some of the information about the Pakistan floods I’ve come across online.

What’s happening now?
The news is that the Pakistani government says 20 million people have been affected by the floods, higher than the UN estimates of 14 million. For a quick analysis on the Pakistan government and military response, this is a short piece in The Guardian by Owen Bennett Jones of the BBC.

Latest news
Besides the main online news outlets like the BBC, I also follow some excellent Twitter users from Pakistan. I’ve compiled a basic Twitter list, but I’m sure if you have a look at their followers, you’ll find a few more good ones. My favourite so far is @pakistanpolicy. The BBC’s Lyse Doucet, who I believe is also in Pakistan, has been tweeting frequently on what’s she has been seeing and hearing during her reporting there.

Where and what
Here’s a map from AlertNet, a humanitarian website run by the Thomas Reuters Foundation, on where the floods are, and what the donation shortfall is. Here, they give a good summary on which aid agencies are working where. 

Scenes of devastation
I’ve come across some good galleries: this one, compiled by the Boston Globe, has some of the best wire photos from the flooded areas. This has been put together by The Guardian, and this is from Reuters.

What you can do to help
There are many aid agencies working in Pakistan, as the AlertNet list above sounds, but here are a handful of the Australian branches of aid agencies you can donate to, including the UNHCR, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Save the Children. SBS has also put together a good list online.

To end, just a thought:
The Pakistan floods are worse that the Boxing Day tsunami, the UN says, but yet the amount of aid raised is far lower. Why? 

17/8 update:
The BBC website now has a Special Report page. The Guardian have also tapped into their excellent database journalism skills to put together a page on aid donations etc. 

20/8 update:
A good site from BBC Dimensions showing the size of the floods. Type in your area code and see how big they are.