Five million Pakistanis at risk from floods, says U.N. (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Up to five million people in Pakistan are at risk from floods this year, partly due to poor reconstruction and the inadequate rehabilitation of survivors who are still reeling from last year's epic deluge, the U.N. said on Wednesday.

Monsoon floods began roaring through Pakistan in late July last year, leaving one-fifth of the country -- an area the size of Italy -- underwater, disrupting the lives of more than 18 million people.

The government and aid organisations were criticized for being too slow to respond while the military, seen as a far more efficient institution, took the lead in relief operations.

As Pakistan braces itself again for its annual monsoon season -- which runs from late June to early September -- the U.N. says authorities and the aid community have learnt lessons and are better prepared -- even for the worst case scenario.

"Since the beginning of March, we have been in close contact with the government to make sure response is up and running and that we are better prepared this year," said Manuel Bessler, head of the U.N. emergencies office (OCHA) in Pakistan.

"The most anticipated scenario is two million affectees and the worst case scenario is five million. We are prepared for these two scenarios," he told AlertNet by phone from Islamabad.

Last year's flooding -- which went on for almost three months and wiped out villages from the far north to the deep south of the country -- is considered to be one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent times. Around 11 million people were left homeless, 2,000 were killed, infrastructure such as bridges and roads washed away and millions of acres of crops destroyed.

POOR RECONSTRUCTION

Based on forecasts from the Pakistan Meteorological Department, this year's monsoons are, in general, likely to be 10 percent below normal.

But despite this, millions could be hit by floods, partly because infrastructure such as dykes and embankments were "weak" and could have been strengthened better, said Bessler, who heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

A lack of funds has meant that some communities have not been able to adequately reconstruct their homes or regain financial income after losing their livelihoods as farmers, making them more susceptible this year.

The U.N. last year appealed to the world for almost $2 billion -- the biggest appeal ever launched by the body for any humanitarian emergency -- to help survivors. Yet, 30 percent of the appeal remains unfunded almost one year on.

"The vulnerabilities are higher this year than last year," he said. "This a because of poor timing and a lack of funding which has meant that perhaps, things were not be done to the level they could have been."

Also, environmental conditions such as increased snow melt in mountainous areas was leading to high water levels in rivers, while ground water levels were already high after last year's deluge, reducing its absorption capacity.

Bessler said the humanitarian community were prepositioning relief items --- tents, water and sanitation equipment and filling up warehouses with food items, as well as establishing coordination structures with authorities at federal and provincial levels.

"The monsoon will happen -- its just a question how big and if external assistance is needed by Pakistan," he said.

"We have to be ready because this would be a major failure if the government and humanitarian community have not learnt the lessons from last year's experience."

(Edited by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Floods misery increases in China as dikes burst (AP)

BEIJING – Chinese state media are reporting that more than 120,000 people have fled their homes in eastern China as more rains cause landslides and flooding.

Flooding in the country this month has already led to thousands of people evacuating and left more than 170 people dead or missing.

Xinhua News Agency said Friday that a dike breached in Zhejiang province a day earlier and flooded 18 villages.

Heavy rains elsewhere in the province triggered flooding and landslides that toppled about 2,500 houses and flooded 350 roads.

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Heavy rain floods part of east Australia; 2K flee (AP)

SYDNEY – Heavy rain has caused flooding in eastern Australia that has forced 2,000 people to leave their homes and isolated thousands of other residents.

Michael Gallacher, the emergency services minister for New South Wales, declared some northern parts of the state disaster areas Wednesday. Heavy rain has fallen for three days and more was expected overnight.

Greg Gill of New South Wales emergency services described flooded areas as "just a sea of water" and said 10,000 people were isolated. Many roads are impassable, and swollen rivers are still rising.

Police reported one death, a driver killed when a tree fell and struck his car Wednesday morning.

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Floods in southwest China kill 14

Firefighters work in a flooded street Monday in Wangmo county, Guizhou province, China.The floods triggered by heavy rains are affecting southwest ChinaAt least 45,000 residents in one hard-hit county evacuate

Beijing (CNN) -- Floods that have ravaged parts of China have left 14 people dead and 53 people missing, government officials said Tuesday.

The floods have hit parts of Guizhou province in southwest China affecting 14 cities damaging thousands of homes, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

The floods triggered by heavy rains have caused at least 45,000 residents in one hard-hit county to evacuate, Xinhua news agency reported.

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Mississippi floods force evacuations

Krotz Springs, Louisiana (CNN) -- Residents of towns along the swollen Mississippi River on Sunday packed up their valuables and made last-ditch efforts to place sandbags and makeshift levees outside their homes, trying to protect themselves and their homes from rising waters.

"I have never experienced anything like this in my life," said Brett Ansley, 24, as he was hitching up his trailer home in Krotz Springs, Louisiana, to move it to higher ground. "It's crazy. It's unreal."

These efforts occurred as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened two additional gates Sunday morning on the Morganza spillway, located about 115 miles northwest of New Orleans. This is after opening the first two bays the previous day.

A collective gasp as Louisiana town braces for flood

The plan is to let out water from as many as one-fourth of the spillway's 125 bays to spare the Louisiana cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans from severe flooding, Corps spokesman Ricky Boyett has said. But it maystill affect nearly 4,000 people who live along the river, as it sends water toward homes and farmland in the Atchafalaya Basin, according to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"At this time, we are currently monitoring the river, but it is too early to know if additional gates will be opened today," Boyett wrote in an e-mail to CNN.

Some of the spillway's gates will likely be open for weeks, and it'll be at least that long before the river falls safely below flood stage and those who have evacuated can safely return, said Col. Ed Fleming, the Corps' New Orleans district commander.

Stars talk about the flooding and response

Fleming said the decision to open the spillway, along with similar decisions made in recent weeks as the floodwaters moved southward, was done to address a historic excess of water in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. While the spillways will divert water away from Louisiana cities, low-lying central parts of the state will be flooded.

Across the South and lower Midwest, floodwaters have already covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton, officials said.

Authorities in St. Landry Parish issued a mandatory evacuation that affected about 2,000 people -- including about 750 people living in 240 homes in Krotz Springs. Residents in other areas were under a voluntary evacuation, with authorities encouraging but not ordering them to leave.

Don Menard, the parish's president, said Sunday afternoon that water levels in Krotz Springs appear lower than expected -- though he said he thought they'd rise considerably after midnight, and especially if and when more floodgates are opened.

NBA's Grizzlies inspired by fans in flooded Memphis

"It's the fear of the unknown," Menard said, noting estimates that the water could rise 10 to 15 feet in spots. "These are predictions, no one knows for sure what will happen."

CNN iReporter Faisal Abou-Shahla posted a video of flooded homes in St. Francisville, Louisiana, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. He said he shot the video on Saturday, after the first gate was opened on the spillway. Abou-Shahla said he lives in Baton Rouge and was visiting his fiancee's parents in St. Francisville.

Some city residents "were waiting until the last second to leave," he said Sunday, while others used whatever they could to try to minimize damage to their homes for when the high waters roll in.

"There were a few seemingly futile attempts to put sandbags up," said Abou-Shahla.

Following the opening of the spillway, the National Weather Service revised its flood forecasts and lowered projected cresting levels in some Louisiana towns. Forecasters also said the river may crest earlier than first thought in some areas.

"The river at Baton Rouge through New Orleans will crest sooner than upstream locations due to Morganza spillway operations," said the latest forecast, issued Saturday. "After crests, stages will remain at the same levels and New Orleans will fluctuate near flood stage while Bonnet Carre and Morganza are operated."

Authorities previously opened gates on the Bonnet Carre spillway, located upstream from Morganza.

Already on Sunday, waters in Vicksburg, Mississippi, had reached record levels of 56.2 feet , the weather service reported. This is well above the 43-foot flood stage, but still short of the forecasted crest of 57.5 feet on Thursday. Levels in Natchez, further south downriver, were two feet higher than the record set in 1937 on Sunday, but just under three feet shy of the 63-foot crest expected Saturday.

The weather service said the river was also cresting Sunday in New Orleans and Reserve, Louisiana, because of the spillway operations. At Reserve, the river was cresting at 28.2 feet, above the historic 1929 flood level of 26 feet. At New Orleans, however, the crest was 17 feet, about four feet below the historic level of 1922.

Spillways explained

Residents were counting on a levee for protection. In addition to the mainline levee along the river, starting near Vicksburg and extending northeast for more than 20 miles, a so-called backwater levee offers shelter.

The backwater levee is designed to keep water from backing into the Yazoo River delta and is designed lower than the mainline levee so that water can flow over it.

Peter Nimrod, the Mississippi Levee Board's chief engineer, said Sunday there was a "remote" chances the levees could be breached, though he expressed confidence they would hold. Even if it stays intact, the expectation is excess water will rush over them for several days.

"There will be a lot of sleepless nights, when this thing starts overtopping," Nimrod said. "It will be a very stressful time for everyone."

CNN's Ed Lavandera, Martin Savidge, Justin Lear, Jacqui Jeras and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.

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Manitoba floods farms to avoid "catastrophic" breach (Reuters)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Manitoba opened its dike on the swollen Assiniboine River on Saturday, starting a slow creep of water across rich farmland to avert a potentially catastrophic, unplanned breach in the Canadian province.

Opening the dike will, over days, flood at least 225 square kilometres (55,600 acres) of land that includes 150 homes while taking the pressure off strained dikes.

After the deliberate dike breach, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said the gradual, controlled flood was going well and that he knew of no homes in its path that had been damaged.

Water was spreading rapidly across fields, however, swamping land when farmers are usually planting crops of wheat, canola and vegetables.

"This was a necessity because a catastrophic overflow would have taken all the people in this area, and around it they would have had up to five times more damage if the river opened up," Selinger told reporters near the breach site. "...The dikes are very stressed with the amount of water going through, which is why we had to do this opening here."

The controlled flood looked to continue for as long as a week with flows speeding up because the river was still rising, Selinger said.

Warm, clear weather was helping volunteers and about 1,500 soldiers reinforce dikes.

Levels on the Assiniboine, which flows eastward out of Saskatchewan into Manitoba, are the highest on record after a winter of heavy snowfall on saturated land.

Along with fortifying dikes, Manitoba officials hastily expanded this week an engineered channel that diverts water off the Assiniboine into Lake Manitoba to prevent widespread flooding caused by heavy winter snowfall and spring rains.

U.S. authorities fighting a swollen Mississippi River opened a key spillway on Saturday, a move that could flood homes and crops but spare Louisiana's two largest cities.

Across Manitoba, 3,300 people had left their homes as of Friday because of the threat of flooding, including 1,400 in Brandon, the province's second-largest city. About 100 homes are flooded, mostly on Indian reserves.

Residents in the area that will be flooded east of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, shored up flood defenses this week as provincial officials repeatedly delayed the dike breach to give them more time.

It wasn't enough, said Doug Connery, whose family runs a large vegetable farm in the area.

"It all depends now on how fast this (water) is going to move," he said. "There's stuff out there that wasn't protected last night."

Manitoba officials have aimed to pump about one-third more water than design capacity through the Portage Diversion, out of the Assiniboine and into Lake Manitoba. While that has taken some strain off dikes, it has added to flooding in a key cattle-producing region.

Farmers have moved thousands of cattle to higher ground and worry they might not be able to feed them this year.

(Editing by Laura MacInnis and Paul Simao)

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