Pakistan floods affect millions

Heavy monsoon rains and extensive floods are still driving people out of their homes in Pakistan, as floods that began in the country's northwest hit communities in the south.

The United Nations estimates that the floods have affected more than four million people, but a local official told the Reuters News Agency that it has affected as many as 12 million people in the northwest alone.

Nadeem Ahmed, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, said the figure applied only to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in the country's northwest and central Punjab province, according to a Reuters report.

Figures from southern Sindh province, where swollen rivers have forced officials to evacuate thousands of people, were not yet available, the news agency said.

Foreign governments and the United Nations have pledged millions in assistance, but relief workers on the ground are struggling to reach many areas affected by the flood.

U.S. military personnel waiting to fly Chinooks to the upper reaches of the hard hit Swat Valley Friday were frustrated by bad weather, which dumped more rain on a region where many thousands are already living in tents or crammed into public buildings.

Over the last week, floods have spread from the northwest down Pakistan, killing around 1,500 people and displacing millions of people. Much of the destruction has come from the mighty Indus River, which in better times irrigates vast swaths of farmland.

"Once this flood engulfed everything, our dreams ended," said Mohammad Amad, who lost his home to the floods in Pakistan's northwest.

"After the floods ends, many of the areas were disconnected, bridges were broken, roads were inundated, there's no infrastructure now," he said from Mardan, where he is helping with relief operations in Nowshera and Swat.

The flooding began in the north, but is now affecting a broad swath of the country, with flood warnings in Punjab and Sindh province.

In a report released Thursday, the World Health Organization said 1.6 million people in Punjab were affected overnight.

In the Sukkur area of Sindh in southern Pakistan, 70 villages had been flooded over the last 24 hours, the navy said.

"Floods killed our people, they have ruined our homes and even washed away the graves of our loved ones. Yet we are here without help from the government," said Mai Sahat, a 35-year-old women looking over a flooded landscape where her village used to be.

Saleh Farooqi, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority in Sindh, said authorities had evacuated about 200,000 people from areas where floodwaters could hit, but many more were still living in the danger zone.

"About 500,000 people living near the Indus River do not realize the gravity of the situation, and they do not know how fast the water is rushing to their areas," he said.

The World Food Program said more than 230,000 people have received emergency food aid so far, but the agency said stormy weather is creating challenges for teams trying to distribute food aid.

Officialsare also trying to prevent outbreaks of water-borne diseases in areas hit by the flood, UNICEF officials said. Officials are monitoring for outbreaks of illnesses like cholera in many areas where the local water supply was contaminated by floodwaters.

Forecasters have warned that some areas should brace for even more rain.

Pakistani presidentvisits U.K.

Many localmedia outlets have criticized the government over its handling of the flood relief efforts, and called for President Asif Ali Zardari to return home from a trip to Europe.

Pakistan's president held official talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, roughly a week after Cameron ignited a diplomatic row by accusing Pakistan of exporting terrorism during a trip to the country's nuclear rival, India.

They discussed ways to boost trade, co-operation in the fight against terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan and how to help people affected bythe monsoonfloods.

Cameron said that the U.K. would work with Pakistan to "deepen and enhance" the relationship between the two countries.

"Storms will come and storms will go, and Pakistan and Britain will stand together and face all the difficulties with dignity," said Zardari, Benazir Bhutto's widower

"We will make sure that the world is a better place for our coming generations."

Cameron also offered more help dealing with the "devastating floods" that have destroyed homes and crops in Pakistan.