Response to evolving Pakistan flood is slow

The global aid response to the Pakistan floods has so far been much less generous than to other recent natural disasters -- despite the soaring numbers of people affected and the prospect of more economic ruin in a country key to the fight against Islamist extremists.

Experts suggest that reasons include the relatively low death toll of 1,500, the slow onset of the flooding compared with more immediate and dramatic earthquakes or tsunamis, and a global "donor fatigue" -- or at least a Pakistan fatigue.

Triggered by monsoon rains, the floods have torn through the country from its mountainous northwest, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes and an estimated 700,000 hectares of farmland. In southern Pakistan, the River Indus is now more than 25 kilometres wide at some points -- 25 times wider than during normal monsoon seasons.

The floods have disrupted the lives of 14 million people -- 8 per cent of the population.