Asia Flooded with Disasters

The past month has witnessed several major environmental disasters in Asia. Of particular significance are the Pakistan floods, which have engulfed a fifth of Pakistan’s total land area and affected 20 million people. According to international humanitarian organisation Islamic Relief, the damage caused by the Pakistan floods is worse than that of the 2004 Asian tsunami, 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake combined. A series of landslides also occurred as a result of heavy rainfall and flooding in China. A number of provinces have been the hardest hit, in particular, the northwest province of Gansu, the northeast province of Liaoning and the southern province of Yunnan. The death toll as a result of the landslides is said to be more than 2,000 thus far. Said to be the worst case of flooding and mudslides in China this year, estimates are that the heavy rains have affected more than 305 million people across the country and cost US$1.7 billion. In terms of response to the disasters, China seems to have managed the crises better than Pakistan. China was even able to provide aid to Pakistan, while still managing to address its own set of floods and landslides. Nevertheless, latest reports suggest that flooding in both Pakistan and China continue to be a problem, with floods in the latter spilling over to North Korea.