A woman rows a boat in Sindh, Pakistan, where swollen rivers swept away homes and destroyed crops and bridges. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

By Jennifer Hardy, CRS digital and new media communications officer

While 6 to 8 feet of water submerges homes in Orissa province in India, floodwaters are also packing a second punch to people in Sindh province, Pakistan. Still rebuilding their homes and farms after deadly flooding in 2010, half of the people Catholic Relief Services plans to assist in Sindh are losing ground in their recovery efforts.

In the four districts CRS is prioritizing in Pakistan—among the poorest in the country—flooding has damaged or destroyed more than 200,000 homes. Jack Byrne, country representative for Pakistan, says this is “a double blow for many of the families affected by the current flood. They lost so much in the 2010 floods, and were beginning to get back on their feet. They’ve lost their crops, homes and belongings for the second time in a year.”

Teams from CRS in India report that some people are waiting to be rescued from the tops of their houses, whereas others have made it safely to embankments but lack sufficient shelter.

CRS is responding in both countries.
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Years of deforestation have left Haiti’s mountains bare. Photo by Brian Tabben for CRS

CRS staff in Haiti have provided us with photos of deforested mountains in the Seguin area of Haiti. Photos by Brian Tabben for CRS.

Severe deforestation continues to force Haiti into a cycle of disaster.

With 99 percent of its mountains plucked clean, annual storms cause immeasurable damage to low-lying cities and villages. We saw this with the past succession of storms–Faye, Gustav, Hanna and Ike–which affected each of the island-nation’s 10 departments.
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