Pakistan Ceases Looking for Survivors, Braces for Winter

Pakistan’s death toll from last week’s earthquake is now expected to climb to over 40,000, and officials have said there is virtually no hope of finding any more people alive beneath the thousands and thousands of buildings and homes that collapsed. Heavy rains are predicted for this weekend in the quake zone, and rain, snow and frigidly cold weather will not only make further searching impossible, it will also result in serious disruptions to providing food and shelter to an estimated 2 million people left homeless by the earthquake. The Himalayan winter is harsh and unforgiving, and because of that, any reconstruction efforts will be slow in starting and difficult to undertake. A top U.N. official estimated that rebuilding the devastated region may cost billions of dollars and may take up to ten years.

Most of the dead were living in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan. India has reported more than 1,350 deaths in its portion of Kashmir, where snow has already begun falling. Water and electricity have been restored to parts of Muzaffarabad, a large city in Kashmir in the heart of the quake zone, and authorities are working to bring back power to outlying smaller villages. Military helicopters from Pakistan and other countries have been flying in and out of a sports stadium in Muzaffarabad, ferrying aid to isolated villages and bringing back hundreds of injured people to a temporary hospital that has been set up.

Helicopters in other areas have helped save over 6,000 injured people by ferrying them to hospitals in dozens of daily sorties. The U.S. military has deployed 13 helicopters to Pakistan, and has begun dropping relief supplies by air from C-130s. A 36-bed Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is also scheduled to be set up, along with a water purification crew and troops as needed. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Michael Lefever, the commander of the U.S. military's disaster assistance center, said, "My view is that we will be here as long as Pakistan wants us, to demonstrate our friendship." American aircraft and troops will assist as long as necessary. Dozens of other countries have donated money and aid.

Pakistan is expecting to receive millions of blankets and 100,000 large tents as part of the international relief effort being undertaken before the onset of winter. Nearly a quarter million homes have been destroyed, so the international relief effort must focus first on helping children at risk of death from malnutrition, disease, and cold. UNICER Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a statement from New York, "Most housing has been destroyed in the hardest-hit areas, so the survival of thousands of young children is now at stake." The agency is sending high protein biscuits, water containers, boots and sweaters for children, medical supplies, plastic tarpaulins, tents, and blankets.

Exhausted Muslim relief workers have had to press onward with helping victims despite their commitment to fasting during the daytime hours, because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Some Muslims and clerics have said that the earthquake was a sign from God that He is unhappy with his people. Across Pakistan on Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, millions of Muslims gathered in mosques to pray for those who died in the earthquake. In Muzaffara, over a thousand worshippers and relief workers gathered inside a damaged mosque in the center of the city as the cleric prayed, "God, forgive us. Help all those who are helping others in this hard time, and give the nation courage to bear this loss and take part in the reconstruction of this city."