Floods ravage Pakistan's heartland, threaten south

KOT ADDU, Pakistan - Flooding ravaged hundreds of villages in Pakistan's main province of Punjab yesterday, destroying homes, soaking crops, and threatening more lives. Aid workers warned that bloated rivers would surge south soon, flooding more areas.

This year's monsoon season has caused the worst flooding in Pakistan in living memory and already killed more than 1,500 people. The United Nations scrambled to provide food and other assistance to some 3.2 million affected people in a nation already struggling with an Islamist militancy and a poor economy.

After causing huge destruction in Pakistan's volatile northwest, floodwaters deluged villages and some urban centers in Punjab, the richest and most populous province. The army used boats and helicopters to move stranded villagers to higher ground.

Water was so high, only treetops and uppermost floors of some buildings were visible in large tracts of Kot Addu and the nearby area of Layyah in the south of the province.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Nadir Zeb told reporters at least 30,000 people have been rescued from flood-hit zones in Kot Addu and areas over the previous 72 hours. He warned of more flooding as more rains were forecast in the next few days. "People must cooperate . . . they must leave those areas where floods are going to hit," he said.

Monsoon season in Pakistan usually lasts about three months, through mid-September. In a typical year, the country gets an average 5.4 inches worth of rainfall during the monsoon season. This year, it already has received 6.3 inches, said Muhammad Hanif, head of the National Weather Forecasting Center in Islamabad.

The rush of muddy water over river banks in Punjab threatened to destroy vast stretches of crops that make the province Pakistan's breadbasket.

The loss of farm produce is one reason the UN has warned of serious food shortages, and the World Food Program has estimated that 1.8 million people will need to be fed over the next month.