We had an unbelievable trip today to the submerged town of Sujawa in Sindh, Pakistan. The floods hit it just four days ago and Its 40,000 residents had 24 hours notice to get out. Even though the waters had since subsided a couple of feet, the road to the town took us through an endless vista of flood waters as far as the eye could see. Here's the start of the trip (1 min).
The road continued past numerous dying animals. We counted five dead dogs, others on their last legs, several buffalo being picked over by crows. A few farmers had stuck stubbornly with their properties. Several were very visibly armed against intruders. Others had unrolled fishing nets and were successfully pulling in small fish -- from terrain that less than a week ago was miles from the river. Sujawa itself was still largely under water, and we couldn't enter more than 30 feet or so by vehicle. Apart from a handful of adventurous souls exploring a possible return, it was completely deserted, its residents in the relief camps or making do in makeshift shelters along the highway. Not a single fatality was reported in the evacuation... but the destruction of property and business in the whole area beggared belief... and this is just one tiny part of the flood zone.
Chris Anderson • TED Curator • www.ted.com • "Ideas Worth Spreading"