Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Dr. Fahmida Mirza has expressed her gratitude and thanks to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, his government, and the people of Saudi Arabia for the public fund-raising campaign and their generous donations to help the victims of flood. “The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has always played a parental role on such occasions whenever Pakistan was hit by any natural calamity or other problems,” she said in a statement issued Saturday. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed also lauded the quick response of the Saudi leadership and the people to help the flood victims. He also recalled the Kingdom's role in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction projects carried out since the Oct. 8, 2005 earthquake. Ahmed briefed the Regional Director of newly-formed Saudi Relief Organization (SRO), Dr. Khalid M. Al-Othmani, on the gravity of the flood disaster. Dr. Al-Othmani assured full support of the Saudi leadership and people. Meanwhile, about 150,000 Pakistanis were forced to move to higher ground as floodwaters from a freshly swollen Indus River submerged dozens more towns and villages in the south, a government spokesman said Saturday. Officials expect the floodwaters will recede nationwide in the next few days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea. Survivors may find little left when they return home, however: The waters have washed away houses, roads, bridges and crops vital to livelihoods. Already, 600,000 people are in relief camps set up in Sindh province during the flooding over the past month. As the latest surge approached, “We evacuated more than 150,000 people from interior parts of Sindh in the past 24 hours,” said Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for the provincial government. The floods submerged new areas in Thatta district. At a relief camp in the Sukkur area, some victims said it was difficult to get food dropped off by relief trucks. “I am a widow, and my children are too young to get food because of the chaos and rush,” said Parveen Roshan. “How can weak women win a fight with men to get food?” Nearby, a doctor treated a boy whose back was injured after someone pushed him during a scramble for food at a truck.
