UN calls Pakistan floods 'monsoon on steroids', one-third of country under water

As the situation in Pakistan worsened with the death toll reaching over 1,100, the UN has asked the world to help the country.

The UN's Secretary General launched a $160m appeal to help the millions affected and called the disaster "a monsoon on steroids".

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the flooding the worst in the history of the country, adding it would cost at least $10 billion to repair damaged infrastructure spread across the country, reported AFP.

Catastrophic flooding: More than 33 million people have been affected by the deadly floods in the country. More than 1 million homes have been damaged or destroyed in the past two and half months, displacing millions of people, reported the AP.

The floods have killed 1,136 people since June, including 386 children, Pakistan's government said.

"When we send in water pumps, they say, 'Where do we pump the water?' It's all one big ocean, there's no dry land to pump the water out," Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman told AFP.

The damages: Pakistan's planning minister has said that estimates suggest the floods have caused at least $10bn of damage, and many are people facing serious food shortages, reported the BBC.

More than 243 bridges and more than 5,000 kilometres of road have been damaged.

"We don't even have space to cook food. We need help," Rimsha Bibi, a schoolgirl in Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan, told AFP.

Balochistan cut off: Hundreds of people were stranded on Quetta-Sukkur highway after two vital bridges were closed due to damage to their structure, reported The Dawn.

Two bridges connecting Balochistan to the rest of the country have been washed away. A driver Muhammad Afzal told The Dawn that they can neither reach their destination nor go back to Quetta.

Relief operations: The government has deployed soldiers to help civilian authorities in rescue and relief operations across the country and makeshift relief camps have sprung up all over Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the US government said it would provide $30 million in assistance to help victims of the flood. Canada, Azerbaijan and the UK have pledge $5m, $1.2m and £1.5m in aid, respectively, reported The Dawn.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the government has earmarked $173 million to help flood-hit people through direct cash transfers. This would be disbursed  to 1.5 million families who will each receive Rs 25,000 ($115) in immediate cash relief, The Dawn reported him as saying.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan has shared contact details of a Flood Relief Control Centre established by the Dir Scouts:

Mobile 1: 03091311310
Mobile 2: 03235780067
Landline: 0945-825526

What caused these deadly floods: There's been a 400% increase in average rainfall in areas like Balochistan and Sindh, which led to the extreme flooding. At least 20 dams have been breached, Moshin Hafeez, a Lahore-based climate scientist, told AP.

In May, temperatures higher than 50 degrees Celsius were recorded in places like Jacobabad and Dadu and above 45 degrees Celsius in many other parts of Pakistan. Warmer air holds more moisture and that eventually comes down, in this case in torrents, reported AP.

Many officials in the country are blaming climate change elsewhere in the world for the unprecedented rainfall and the devastation due to the floods, reported AFP.