Severe rain and floods kill more than 900 in Pakistan

Pakistan is passing through a crisis. It witnessed severe rains and flooding this summer. The country’s Minister for Climate Change told a section of the media that Pakistan needs international assistance. It is a "humanitarian disaster" and thousands have no shelter and food. The communication lines have broken and people do not have the basic amenities. The death toll has crossed 900 and the dead include 326 children. Heavy monsoon rains and floods since June have affected more than 2.3 million people in the country. This is as per the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA. It reveals at least 95,350 homes are destroyed. Most affected regions are the southeastern province of Sindh and the southwestern province of Balochistan. Over 900 killed by Pakistan monsoon rains and floods, including 326 children. Apart from loss of livestock, nearly 1,864 miles of roads and 129 bridges are damaged. These have cut off access to many flood-affected areas.

The governmental National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan wants international funding for flood relief, rehabilitation, and the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure. Sherry Rehman, Minister for Climate Change, spoke at the NDMA briefing. She compared the situation to record flooding in 2010. She also mentioned about the "unprecedented humanitarian disaster" in parts of Balochistan and the Sindh region. The forecast is of more heavy rain and floods. Schools in Balochistan and Sindh will remain closed in anticipation of a fresh spell of monsoon rain expected towards the end of the week. China indicated that it would provide emergency humanitarian aid to Pakistan. These would include tents apart from cash. Monsoon rains are not new to Pakistan but this year was an exception. About 15 inches of rain poured down in the course of a few hours in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. This July was the wettest in three decades.

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Britain faced with shortage of spinach because of heavy rains in Spain

Supermarkets in Britain are suffering from a spinach shortage because of heavy rains in Spain which is the major supplier. The rains have washed away the crops which means the shortage could go on for up to three weeks.
Murcia in Spain supplies nearly 80 per cent of Britain's spinach during the winter months but, it has just had its heaviest rainfall in 30 years. The rainfall has left some fields reduced to just 30 per cent capacity after receiving between 150 to 250 litres of water per square metre.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 14 January 2017.

The situation has been aggravated due to the unseasonably cold weather in Greece and Italy, which also supply some stocks during this time of year. The real reason for the shortage is a series of storms in the Murcia region of Spain - it has suffered its heaviest rainfall in 30 years.
Major outlets like Tesco and Sainsbury's online stores have already run out of fresh spinach while Waitrose reported that it too had exhausted its stocks in many of its stores. Spinach is popular with those who are embarking on a January health kick.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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