Pakistan has issued new flood warnings as the country battles to cope with flooding which has killed at least 1,500 people.
Over 3 million have been affected by the catastrophic floods, with at 1.3 million of those in dire need of food and shelter.
Record rain last week triggered floods and landslides that obliterated entire villages and ruined farmland in one of the country's most impoverished and volatile regions, already hard hit by Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked violence.
More than 54,000 people have so far been rescued from flood-hit areas. 40 military helicopters and 450 boats were mobilised as part of the rescue effort, according to the Pakistani military.
The UN says clean drinking water and sanitation are urgently needed to stop waterborne diseases spreading after the worst flooding in the region in 80 years.
'The entire infrastructure we built in the last 50 years has been destroyed,' said Adnan Khan, spokesman for the provincial Disaster Management Authority in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
There has been heavy criticism of the government over its response to the disaster and Pakistani authorities are struggling to help victims of the flooding.
The disaster has also called into question the leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari, already hampered by problems ranging from a stubborn Taliban insurgency to widespread poverty in the nuclear-armed US ally.
In particular, there has been growing anger among survivors over President Zardari's decision to press on with a visit to Europe.
During a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris yesterday, Mr Zardari asked for immediate international aid.
'We need to rebuild the damaged infrastructure that has been destroyed first by the war against militancy and now further by the torrential rains.'
Many victims have lost their homes and livelihood and say they had not received any official warnings that floods were heading their way.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has pledged aid of up to $10m for those affected by the crisis, Britain has pledged £5m and South Korea $500,000 worth of emergency relief supplies.
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Islamist charities have also stepped in to provide help, piling pressure on the government to show it can take control of the crisis.
They played a key role in the relief effort following a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that killed 75,000 people.
Waters have receded in some flooded areas. However, there is concern that waters are spreading from the worst hit province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Pakistan's Punjab heartland, the major food-producing province, as well as the Sindh region.
'What we have heard from Punjab is that 50,000 people have already been displaced and 200,000 people are being evacuated from Sindh,' he said.
'In case of further rain, they expect that out of 23 districts in Sindh 19 will be affected.'
Officials say it is too early to estimate the damage the floods have caused to the economy.
