A Blackburn solicitor who headed out to Pakistan says the devastating floods are far worse than many have been led to believe.

Sheroze Nadeem, 28, who works at Forbes in Preston, joined members of the Salam charity as they helped distribute essential emergency aid to those most affected by the floods.

Sheroze said nothing could have prepared him for seeing the impact of the floods first hand.

He said: “I don’t think it has had the correct or appropriate media coverage. The situation is far worse.

“It was 38 degrees in one area we went to. The rain had stopped and there was still sitting water and it had not gone anywhere.

“The immediate damage was that people had lost their houses. But the long-term effect is the crops have been damaged.

“I would say all the people are living below the poverty line. A lot of them were labourers but there are no crops for them to tend to and no work for them to carry out.

“The other thing that really hit me the people’s mindset was so strong and amazing.”

The team visited Peshawar, Charsadda and Dera Ismail Khan, distributed food and supplies and also helped to run a medical camp.

Sheroze said: “A lot of the diseases are very basic and simple antibiotics can clear them up but people cannot afford to see a doctor.

"Subsequently if they see a doctor they can’t afford to buy the medicine.

“So, the camp allowed them to come and have treatment.

“The trip for me opened my eyes to what real world issues are.”

On the visit Sheroze assisted families who had lost their homes as a result of the floods, distributed tents for them and their family.

He added: “The aim was to assist and also help as many people become self-sufficient.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

Pakistani officials have said the World Bank estimates this summer’s record-breaking floods have caused the country 40 billion US dollars (£35 billion) of damage.

The figure is $10bn (£8.8bn) more than an earlier estimate by the Pakistani government.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Heavy rains triggered unprecedented floods that at one point left a third of the country underwater, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee to safety.

The flooding, which experts say was made worse by climate change, has killed 1,719 people and affected 33 million since mid-June. The waters have damaged or washed away two million homes.

The United Nations has revised its appeal for aid for Pakistan five-fold, to $816 million dollars (£720m), from the initial $160m (£141m), saying recent assessments about the damages caused by floods pointed to the urgent need for long-term help, lasting into next year.

Pakistan wants the world community to scale up aid for flood survivors, now also threatened by waterborne diseases, malaria and dengue fever.