BAGRAM
AIRFIELD,
Afghanistan,
Aug.
2010
– An
Air
Force
C-130H
Hercules
crew
delivered
relief
supplies
to
Islamabad,
Pakistan,
July
31 in
response
to
catastrophic
monsoon
flooding.
|
Air
Force
Senior
Airman
Jose
Cornejo
hands
boxes
of
meals
to
Pakistanis
in
Peshawar,
Pakistan,
Aug.
1,
2010.
Air
Force
crews
flew
thousands
of
meals
to
Pakistan
as
part
of
a
humanitarian
relief
mission
to
help
flood
victims.
U.S.
Air
Force
photo
by
Staff
Sgt.
Christopher
Boitz
(Click
photo
for
screen-resolution
image);high-resolution
image
available.
|
|
The
first
flight,
flown
by
455th
Air
Expeditionary
Wing
airmen,
delivered
nearly
8,000
packaged
meals
prepared
according
to
Islamic
laws.
A
follow-on
C-17
Globemaster
III
flight,
flown
by
airmen
from
the
385th
Air
Expeditionary
Group,
delivered
more
than
44,000
of the
meals
Aug.
1.
Hassan
Zulfiqar,
director
of
Pakistan's
National
Disaster
Management
Authority
met
the
aircraft
as
they
delivered
the
supplies.
"Monsoon
rains
have
caused
a lot
of
flooding,"
Zulfiqar
said.
"Almost
1
million
people
have
been
affected,
and
thousands
of
people
are
marooned
in
flooded
areas.
They
need
immediate
assistance,
especially
food
and
medicines."
Pakistani
relief
efforts
have
been
going
on
since
the
floods
hit,
but
the
C-130H
flight
was
the
first
international
assistance
to
make
it on
the
ground.
"As
far as
foreign
assistance
is
concerned,
this
is the
first
flight,"
Zulfiqar
said.
"The
Pakistani
government
has
already
started
relief
efforts
and
has
begun
to
distribute
relief
items
from
our
warehouses
to the
affected
people.
"The
U.S.
relief
supplies
are
going
to
help a
great
deal,"
he
continued.
"We
hope
this
assistance
provided
by the
U.S.
will
be a
sustained
effort
in the
days
to
come,
and
hopefully
it
will
not be
the
last
relief
consignments.
I
think
it's
going
to be
a
great
help."
The
mission
was a
complete
success,
said
Air
Force
Capt.
Robert
Dodson
of the
Illinois
Air
National
Guard,
the
C-130H
aircraft
commander.
"We
had a
quick
response
from
the
time
we
were
notified
to the
time
the
pallets
were
on the
airplane,"
the
captain
said.
"The
whole
reason
why
we're
here
is to
help
others
when
we
can,
and
the
whole
crew
is
happy
to do
it."
The
U.S.
government
will
continue
to
send
assistance
for
flood
relief
efforts
in the
country,
U.S.
Ambassador
to
Pakistan
Anne
W.
Patterson
said.
In
addition
to the
more
than
50,000
meals,
U.S.
officials
are
also
responding
to
Pakistan's
National
Disaster
Management
Authority's
specific
request
for:
--
Four
Zodiac
inflatable
rescue
boats,
designed
and
built
for
lightness
and
speed
on
rapidly
flowing
waters;
--
Two
water
filtration
units,
each
of
which
can
fulfill
the
daily
water
pumping,
purification,
storage
and
distribution
requirements
of up
to
10,000
people;
and
--
Twelve
prefabricated
steel
bridges
that
can
temporarily
replace
highway
bridges
damaged
by
flooding.
