KARACHI, July 30: Authorities raced against time on Wednesday to rescue tens of thousands of stranded people after the worst floods in a decade hit the south of the country, killing at least 100 people.

As the rain stopped, army, navy, police and civil aid workers fanned out across villages in the Sindh province trying to reach people marooned without food and shelter for up to six days.

“More people will die from (lack of) food, if it is not delivered on time, than from drowning,” said Faisal Edhi, an official of the Edhi Ambulance service.

A government official coordinating relief activities in the city of Hyderabad told Reuters that more than 100 people were now known to have died and more than 650,000 had been affected since monsoons hit at the end of last week.

“The death toll could rise further as we get information from remote areas,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

Relief camps set up in schools, town halls and other government buildings were also filling rapidly, with more than 65,000 people being looked after in camps across the province.

Rescue officials said many people remained stranded even though floodwaters were receding.

“The biggest problem is that road links have disappeared under water so how do we reach them?,” said a police officer from Badin, one of the worst-affected areas, some 190 kilometres from Karachi.

“And we do not have as many boats as are needed so it is taking time to evacuate people,” he said.

Residents of Badin said they were relieved the rain had stopped, but still worried about the death and destruction left by the floodwaters.

“The sun is out and the water is receding too,” Muhammad Yunus told Reuters by telephone from the town. “Thank God it has stopped raining. But please pray for us.”

Army helicopters hovered over villages to drop food packages and help people stranded on rooftops, witnesses said.

A total of 38792 katcha and pacca houses were completely or partially damaged by the rains.

Badin and Tharparkar were the worst affected districts where 556,000 people were affected by downpour till July 30, 2003, Additional Relief Commissioner of Sindh Ali Nawaz Mallah said on Wednesday.

He said 25 people lost their lives in the Larkana district, 22 in Badin, 17 in Karachi, 14 in Dadu, eight in Hyderabad, six in Tharparkar, four in Thatta and three in Shikarpur district during the rains.

In Badin districts, heavy rains and canal breaches and sea intrusion affected 366,000 people while 190,000 people were affected in the Tharparkar district, he said and added a total of 665,167 people were affected by the rainfall.

He said 199 relief camps had so far been set up in rain-hit districts where 62,718 people had taken shelter. The survey to ascertain the actual losses was still under progress, he added.

CM’S RELIEF FUND: Sindh Chief Minister Sardar Ali Mohammed Mahar has established Sindh Relief Fund for the assistance of rain and flood affected people.