Reuters:
ISLAMABAD, Sept 15- Pakistan’s unprecedented floods, which have submerged huge swathes of the South Asian nation, have killed nearly 1,500 people, data showed on Thursday, as authorities looked to step up relief efforts for millions affected by the disaster.
The floods brought by record monsoon rains and glacial melt in northern mountains have hit 33 million of a population of 220 million, sweeping away homes, transport, crops and livestock in damage estimated at $30 billion.
The tally of dead stands at 1,486, about 530 children among them, the National Disaster Management Authority said, as it released its first country-wide total since Sept 9, a period that saw 90 more people die.
Over the last few weeks, authorities have thrown up barriers to keep the flood waters out of key structures such as power stations as well as homes, while farmers who stayed to try and save their cattle faced a new threat as fodder began to run out.
