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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy personnel rescued a stranded Sri Lankan family, including a seven-month-old infant, during ongoing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, the service said Monday. In a statement issued by the Director General Public Relations of Pakistan Navy, the force confirmed that an embarked Z-9 helicopter from Pakistan Navy Ship SAIF conducted the operation in the flooded Kotikawatta area. According to the statement, the family had been &ldquo;stranded for the last five days&rdquo; and was found on a rooftop as floodwaters rose. &ldquo;The stranded family, including a 7-month-old infant, was safely recovered from a rooftop,&rdquo; the Pakistan Navy said. It added that the evacuees were later transported to a secure location &ldquo;in coordination with local authorities.&rdquo; <div class="fr-embed youtube-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PdP8I2HN3PM?si=CKe02JvR2ZQAlwqM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: auto; aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; max-width: 100%; display: block;"></iframe>&nbsp;</div> Calling the mission a demonstration of operational readiness, the statement said, &ldquo;The successful conduct of the rescue operation is a testimony of the Pakistan Navy&#39;s professionalism and commitment to international obligations.&rdquo; The Navy confirmed that PNS SAIF, with its helicopter detachment, is currently on an overseas deployment to Sri Lanka. The rescue comes as Sri Lanka faces one of the region&rsquo;s worst flooding disasters in years. The death toll across parts of Asia has surpassed 1,100, with Sri Lanka and Indonesia among the hardest hit. Heavy rains linked to Cyclone Ditwah caused the Kelani River to overflow, submerging large swathes of Colombo and surrounding districts. Official figures show 257 of the 355 confirmed deaths in Sri Lanka were in the central tea-growing highlands, while 366 people remain missing. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency and pledged to &ldquo;build back better&rdquo; with international support. Nearly 210,000 people are currently sheltering in relief camps, and another 1.15 million require assistance, according to government data. Authorities said water levels in Colombo have peaked and are expected to recede soon. &ldquo;Colombo floods are at their maximum now,&rdquo; Irrigation Director L. S. Sooriyabandara said, noting that conditions elsewhere were beginning to improve. With additional inputs from AFP

Health

Foreign Affairs

Flood situation in Sri Lanka worsens as Pakistan Navy rescues a stranded family during HADR operations, while authorities report soaring casualties and hundreds of thousands displaced


Pakistan Navy rescues stranded Sri Lankan family amid deadly floods

ANCHORAGE: Hundreds of residents from remote Alaska Native villages are being airlifted after a storm battered their low-lying communities over the weekend, wiping away homes and killing at least one person. Two others are missing. In one of the most significant airlifts in Alaska history, hundreds were being flown about 500 miles (800 kilometers) to Anchorage, after a shelter in the regional hub city of Bethel was filled with dozens of evacuees. Here are some things to know about the storm and the ongoing evacuation effort. How the situation unfoldedThe remnants of Typhoon Halong brought record storm surge to western Alaska on Sunday, devastating the tiny coastal villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, which saw water levels more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) above the highest normal tide line. In Kwigillingok, the US Coast Guard rescued two dozen people from their homes after the structures floated out to sea in high water. Ella Mae Kashatok, 67, was found dead in Kwigillingok, and authorities on Monday night called off the search for two men &mdash; Chester Kashatok, 41, and Vernon Pavil, 71 &mdash; after their home was swept away. Officials on Thursday said 121 homes were destroyed in Kipnuk, but all people have been accounted for. Small communities are hit hardThe villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok are near the Bering Sea and have a total population of around 1,000 people, almost all of whom identify as Alaska Native or American Indian, according to Census Bureau data. They are off the state&rsquo;s main road system and reachable this time of year only by water or by air. A video from Kwigillingok shows a house floating away as people on land speak Central Alaskan Yup&rsquo;ik, the largest of the Alaska Native languages. There are about 10,000 speakers of the language in 68 villages across southwest Alaska. The evacuation effort faces challengesMany of the evacuees were flown initially to Bethel, a regional hub of 6,000 people. But authorities worked to relocate them as shelters there approached capacity. A military plane took hundreds of evacuees from Bethel to Anchorage on Wednesday and Thursday, said Col. Christy Brewer of the Alaska National Guard. More flights were expected over the next two days. They were going to the Alaska Airlines Center, a sports and events complex, but more places were expected to open as temporary shelters, officials said. The shelter in Bethel, which was set up at a National Guard armory, was already facing difficulties, with food supply &ldquo;near depletion,&rdquo; FEMA officials said in a briefing report Thursday. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. warned on Wednesday the shelter at the armory would have to close. Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the state emergency management office, said he couldn&rsquo;t speak to the information in the FEMA document. But he was at the Bethel armory on Thursday and said they were serving three meals a day and there was food laid out and available. There were also supplies there, he said. He said the shelter that has been at the armory has become a &ldquo;transitional shelter&rdquo; where people arriving from impacted communities go through processing and stay overnight if needed before going on to places like Anchorage. Rebuilding will be difficultDamage assessments are still ongoing, but experts say the hardest-hit communities face a dire situation. Most construction materials will need to be flown or shipped in, and with winter fast approaching, time is running short. Emergency officials said some homes are beyond repair and unsafe to return to, even with emergency fixes.

Natural Disaster

Flooding from Typhoon Halong devastated Alaska’s coastal villages Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, destroying homes and forcing over 1,000 residents to evacuate. Survivors described chaos, fuel leaks, and loss of winter food supplies as airlifts to Anchorage continue.

Articles tagged with "Evacuation"

Pakistan Navy rescues stranded Sri Lankan family amid deadly floods

Storm surge wipes out Alaska villages, over 1,000 evacuated

Pakistan Navy rescues stranded Sri Lankan family amid deadly floods