Global aid for Pakistan trickles in

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The global aid response to the Pakistan floods has so far been much less generous than to other recent natural disasters - despite the soaring numbers of people affected and the prospect of more economic ruin in a country key to the fight against Islamist extremists.

Reasons include the relatively low death toll of 1,500, the slow onset of the flooding compared with more immediate and dramatic earthquakes or tsunamis, and a global "donor fatigue" - or at least a Pakistan fatigue.

The floods have destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and an estimated 1.7 million acres of farmland, and have disrupted the lives of 14 million people - 8 percent of the population. Many are living in muddy camps or overcrowded government buildings, while thousands more are sleeping in the open.

And the UN says more flood surges may be on the way. Late Friday, local TV reported more flooding along main rivers in Sindh and Punjab provinces.

The flooding has affected more people than in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake combined, the UN says. But international aid for those disasters came at a more rapid pace, aid experts say. The disaster in Haiti led to pledges nearing $1 billion within the first 10 days, aid group Oxfam said. For Pakistan, only $150 million has been given or pledged since late July, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

UN officials have formally appealed for $460 million for immediate relief. Of the $310 million still needed, the UN received $93 million with an additional $32 million pledged, an OCHA spokesman said.