Water Everywhere but NOT For Drink

Pakistan has issued new flood warnings, as heavy rains are expected to inflict more misery on areas where at least 1,500 people have already been killed and 980,000 more have lost their homes.

The latest downpour on Tuesday threatened to overwhelm a dam in the country's northwest, while the waters surged through dozens of villages in Punjab, the most populous province.

Nadeem Ahmad, chairman of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, estimated that roughly three million people were now affected by floods in the country - 1.5 million in the northwest and the same number in Punjab.

An emergency cabinet meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday to estimate the damages, expected to run into millions of dollars, and expedite the relief effort.

The rush of water spilling from rivers in Punjab has threatened to destroy vast areas of crops, prompting the United Nations to warn that an estimated 1.8 million people might need food aid in the coming weeks.

'We have nothing'

Water levels were so high in large tracts of the Kot Addu area and parts of the south of the province that only treetops and uppermost floors of some buildings were visible.