SOHBATPUR, Pakistan - A shipload of U.S. Marines and helicopters arrived to boost relief efforts in flooded Pakistan Thursday, but the prime minister told The Associated Press his country needs more international help to cope with one of the worst natural disasters in its history.
The United Nations warned the crisis was far from over, saying dams in Sindh province could burst in the coming days. More rain fell around the country, and monsoon season is forecast to last several weeks still.
Spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said U.N. officials estimated that up to one-fourth of the country is or had been affected by the floods.
The government has been criticized sharply for a slow response to the floods, which have killed 1,500 people and left an estimated 7 million needing emergency assistance, their homes destroyed, damaged or inundated with muddy water.
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President Asif Ali Zardari - whose decision to go ahead with a trip to Europe when the disaster began was condemned by many - made his first visit to victims of the disaster on Thursday, according to state-run Pakistan Television that gave few details of the trip.
The United States has pledged $71 million in emergency assistance to the country.
The USS Peleliu arrived off the coast near Karachi on Thursday along with helicopters and about 1,000 Marines.
The helicopters will fly to flood-hit areas, rescue stranded people and deliver food and other supplies.
An Associated Press reporter flew with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over parts of Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan provinces. Seen from the air, the extent of the disaster was clear, with the aircraft often flying for many minutes over a mostly flooded landscape.
"All I say is that we need more help from our international friends," he said. "We need more such helicopters because the magnitude of the destruction was far more" than earlier assessments.
