Calling it a “heart wrenching day” as his delegation saw firsthand flooding damage in Pakistan, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on countries of the world to bring relief to those impacted by the disaster.

“The scale of the disaster is so large, so many people, in so many places, in so much need,” Ki-Moon told reporters in Islamabad on August 15, 2010.

“People are marooned on tiny islands with flood waters all around them. They are drinking dirty water. They are living in the mud and ruins of their lives.”

The UN estimates that nearly one out of ten Pakistanis has been directly or indirectly affected – nearly 20 million – by heavy monsoons which hit Pakistan on July 22.

Flash floods, torrential rains, and rivers breaching their banks have prompted officials to designate the flooding as a major natural disaster.

More than 10,000 villages have been affected and nearly 900,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged in regions such as Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, and Baluchistan.

In addition to the human toll, the flooding has ruined standing crops and taken the lives of over 200,000 livestock.

UN officials say “widespread damage” has occurred to public infrastructure in Pakistan, including “roads submerged and tens of bridges swept away, and many schools and hospitals severely damaged. Power lines are down in many areas.”

Children, as many as 3.5 million, are said to be at high risk of contracting deadly diseases from contaminated water and insects, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“As in any disaster situation, children are among the most vulnerable,” said Martin Mogwanja, Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. “We cannot allow this catastrophe to inflict such a heavy toll on our next generation.”

Diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, Hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever all pose significant risks to children in the flooded areas.

The Pakistani government estimates that 1,400 people have lost their lives in the floods so far, but experts worry that a “second wave of death” if funds are not provided to assist with sanitation and hygiene threats.

“If we don’t act fast enough, we will soon see a second wave of death, and the toll will be many times higher than that caused by the actual floods,” said Guido Sabatinelli, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan.

The United States Department of Defense is assisting with coordination and relief efforts.

According to Jim Garamone with the American Forces Press Service, “U.S. helicopters have rescued 2,305 people and transported 211,000 pounds of supplies in 40 sorties.”

Pakistan is one of the oldest regions in the world, dating back at least 5,000 years, which borders the Arabian Sea, India on the east, Iran and Afghanistan on the west, and China to the north.

The Southeast Asian country boasts an estimated population of 177 million, the sixth largest in the world according to the U.S. Government.

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