UK raised £71m for flooding disaster

UK aid agencies raised £71 million (Dh417.6 million) in their Pakistan floods appeal last year, the third highest amount raised for a humanitarian disaster, according to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), the umbrella organisation of British humanitarian groups. The DEC raised £41 million and member agencies raised £30 million, an appeal only surpassed by amounts raised for the 2004 tsunami and 2010 Haiti earthquake. Monsoon rains that began in late July 2010 were the most severe in Pakistan's history. The flash flooding in the north-west eventually spread to the south, through the Indus and other river systems, to engulf an area the size of the UK. Aid provided emergency shelter for 290,000 people, clean water for 510,000, and safe toilets for 160,000. Figures were released on Monday.