Pakistan Floods Drawing Relative Trickle of Private Donations

(Aug. 19) -- Devastating floods in Pakistan have affected up to 20 million people and destroyed a season's worth of crops in a massive human tragedy, yet private donations to international relief groups have been lagging, officials say.

The reasons are complex, but the officials say the slow evolution of the crisis and the seasonal nature of Pakistan floods have slowed responses to the crisis, which has left some 4 million people homeless and already killed at least 1,500 in what the United Nations reported is the worst flooding there in memory.

A Pakistani soldier carries aid supplies from Saudi Arabia, in Retra, Pakistan, Aug. 18.

Kamran Jebreili, AP

A Pakistani soldier carries aid supplies from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in the town of Retra, about 55 kilometers northwest of Multan, Pakistan.

How to Help: Network for Good

And it doesn't help that the crisis comes as the industrial world struggles to shake off a deep international recession.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, told ABC's "Good Morning America" today that beyond the humanitarian crisis are fears that Islamic militant groups could make inroads by filling the void left by the slow international response.

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"We are not oblivious to the political and security implications of this," Holbrooke said. "Pakistan is not just another country that has been hammered by a tragedy; it is at the epicenter of global terrorism."

Relief experts say public response has been slow partly because of the lack of drama that surrounded the start of the flooding, which began with the onset of monsoon rains last month and now has spread to cover a vast swath of the impoverished nation.

"It's like all of Florida being underwater, or all of the cropland in Iowa," said Kate Conradt, spokeswoman for Save the Children. Her organization set a target of $15 million in donations, yet has drawn only half that.

"It's not a massive earthquake like Haiti that just pulverized a city," she said. "There has been way less media coverage of this disaster, so the donating public doesn't know how bad it is. They're just now starting to pick up concern and a deeper understanding of what's happening."

At the International Rescue Committee, Asia regional director Mike Young said individual donations have also been slow in coming, though in recent days governmental and institutional giving have picked up.

"In terms of private contributions coming in through the website and places like that, it's not to the scale that we have witnessed in other disasters," he said, putting total donations at $10 million, including institutions. He was unable to break out a total for individual donors.

He said the organization noticed a similarly weak donor response when some 100,000 Pakistanis were displaced last year as the Pakistani military moved against Islamic insurgents.

"We can't pin down a cause, but this huge disaster comes on the heels of another huge disaster in Haiti," Young said, suggesting donor fatigue might be playing a role. "And how the disaster developed was very slow, taking weeks, not like an earthquake. And the mortality rate is low," compared with a sudden disaster like a quake or landslides.

Yet the death tally is expected to rise in the weeks ahead as water recedes and contaminated drinking water and standing pools help spread disease, he said.

"We've already seen the first cases of cholera," Young said. "Being able to mobilize money as quickly as possible and translate that into aid on the ground is important in heading off that second crisis."

There are several places collecting contributions. Network for Good (AOL is a founding partner) is acting as a clearinghouse for donations. But individual programs are accepting money directly through their own sites, including these organizations:

American Red Cross

CARE

International Rescue Committee

Oxfam America

Save the Children

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Pakistan After the Flood

A Pakistani flood survivor hangs onto a hovercraft and waits to receive relief food distributed by naval officials in Sangi Village, near Sukkur in southern Pakistan on Thursday. Global assistance to flood-ravaged Pakistan has increased, three weeks after the crisis began, and Senator John Kerry said Washington did not want Islamist extremists to come out of the disaster stronger. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Pakistan After the Flood

People carry their belongings after heavy floods destroyed their homes in Nowshera, Pakistan on Aug. 2. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Pakistan After the Flood

A Pakistani flood victim sits inside her makeshift plastic sheet tent during rain in Azakhel near Pabbi, in northwest Pakistan on Aug. 7. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Pakistan After the Flood

Pakistani residents stand by floodwaters that entered a residential area of Muzaffarabad on July 30. (SAJJAD QAYYUM/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistan After the Flood

Pakistani flood survivors try to catch food bags from an army helicopter in Lal Pir on Aug. 7. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistan After the Flood

Flood survivors walk along a flooded village in Muzaffargarh near Multan, Pakistan on Tuesday. The World Bank said it will redirect $900 million of its existing loans to Pakistan to help in flood recovery, as the U.N. warned that many of the 20 million people affected by the disaster have yet to receive any emergency aid. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Pakistan After the Flood

A Pakistani man gathers up some of his belongings outside his flooded house in Nowshera on Aug. 2.(BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistan After the Flood

Pakistani flood victims fight for relief food distributed by volunteers in Shekarpur, Pakistan on Monday. Angry flood survivors blocked a highway to protest slow delivery of aid as heavy rain lashed makeshift housing. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Pakistan After the Flood

Pakistani flood survivors look at newborn twins in a camp set up for displaced people in Sukkar, Pakistan on Tuesday. Many of about 20 million people affected by flooding in Pakistan have yet to receive any assistance despite a growing international relief effort, the U.N. said. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Pakistan After the Flood