ShelterBox responding to flood-ravaged Pakistan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Aug. 30, 2022

• Global disaster relief org. deploys emergency team
• 33 million people affected by devastating floods in Pakistan – 15% of the population. More than 1 million are displaced from their homes.
• Flash floods have ripped through large parts of the country, taking people's homes and livelihoods
• The organization's largest response to flooding was in Pakistan in 2010
• ShelterBox has responded to at least 75 flood disasters

/PRNewswire/ --Global disaster relief organization ShelterBox USA announced today it is deploying an emergency team to Pakistan to respond to devastating flooding and determine what aid it will provide.

ShelterBox, which provides emergency shelter and other essential items following disasters and during prolonged conflicts, will also launch an emergency fundraising appeal.

 "ShelterBox's mission is to ensure no one goes without shelter after disaster, and our team in Pakistan will assess which communities are most in need, and how we can best meet the emergency shelter needs."

More than 33 million people across Pakistan have been affected by the flooding, and more than 1,100 people have died as homes have been sunk or been swept away.

The ShelterBox team aims to be on the ground in Pakistan this week to work with local partners -- including local Rotary districts – to assess shelter and other humanitarian needs and map a response. The team will focus on the hardest hit areas first, including Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan.

ShelterBox has aid items prepositioned in the region.

"The flood waters are fast and lethal, and they do not discriminate. They are sweeping away anything in their path including people, homes, and livelihoods," said Haroon Altaf, ShelterBox Regional Director for Asia. "When there is so little dry land, and entire communities cut off, the logistics of getting shelter aid to the people in greatest need presents a complicated challenge."

Of Pakistan's 160 districts, 116 have been affected by the flooding. Sixty-six have official declared a "calamity" as waterways that feed the Indus River that runs through the country have burst through their banks. Nearly half a million people have crowded into relief camps after losing their homes. 

More monsoon storms are forecasted later this month.

ShelterBox has responded to flooding in Pakistan previously, including a 2010 response that served thousands. It also has significant experience responding to flood disasters, deploying aid to at least 75 since it was founded in 2000. It has also responded to flooding in Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Kenya, Malawi and Peru.

For more information, please visit ShelterBoxUSA.org.

• Murray, ShelterBox CEO Sanj Srikanthan, and other ShelterBox staff available for interviews, including from Pakistan when they arrive.
• Archive images and b-roll from ShelterBox's 2010 response in Pakistan available at the link provided. More available upon request..

ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and other essential items to families who have lost their homes to disasters or conflict. In April 2021, ShelterBox surpassed providing support to two million people since 2000, responding to more than 300 disasters in nearly 100 countries. ShelterBox responds urgently to earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, or conflict by delivering boxes of essential shelter, aid, and other life-saving supplies. Each iconic green ShelterBox contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, a water filtration system, emergency lighting, and other tools for survival. The organization was nominated for a distinguished Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 and 2019. ShelterBox USA is based in Santa Barbara, California.

SOURCE ShelterBox USA