Pakistan's deadly floods: By the numbers

Thousands dead, rainfall records smashed, and a fundraising showdown between America and the Taliban — here's the stats story behind a horrifying disaster

One area of Pakistan reportedly received 354 inches of rainfall in one week.
(Image credit: Getty)

Pakistan has been afflicted by the deadliest floods in a generation, leaving thousands dead and millions homeless thoughout the country — and swamping entire towns beneath water in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. Reportedly, the floods have affected, if not killed, more people than the Haiti earthquake and Indonesian tsunami combined — and, with heavy rains forecast for the coming days, citizens are braced for more misery. (Watch an AP report about relief efforts.) A guide to the numbers behind this enormous disaster:

354

Inches of rainfall recorded in one week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the hardest-hit region — roughly 10 times greater than the area's average annual total

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1,600

Approximate number of people killed by the flooding to date

302,000

Number of homes destroyed or seriously damaged

6 million

Number of people in Pakistan urgently in need of food aid and drinking water, according to the U.N.

14 million

Total number of people affected by the flooding

3 million

Total number of people affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake

700,000

Recorded population of the city of Muzaffargarh, which is now completely evacuated

$459 million

Fundraising target the U.N. has set to provide aid to victims over the next 90 days

$146.5 million

Amount donated or pledged to the U.N. so far

$55 million

Amount the U.S. has pledged to Pakistan

$20 million

Amount pledged by the Taliban, which has urged the Pakistani government to refuse American aid

250,000

Number of Pakistanis the Taliban claims to have helped after the flooding — prompting fears among U.S. officials that the terrorist organization could bolster civilian support in Pakistan by exploiting the disaster

Sources: BBC, Bloomberg, CNN, AFP, United Nations