Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva met with Pakistani officials, aid workers and flood victims during her two-day trip. She described the devastation as “terrible” and said it involves an area about five times the size of Belgium.

Record monsoon floods have killed between 1500 and 2000 people, washed away more than a million homes and wiped out about 3.4m hectares of crops. In all, about 17 million people have been affected.

EU countries have pledged €230 million in emergency relief, including €70m in EU funding, accounting for more than half the UN’s initial aid target.

Pakistan will also need help with reconstruction, but just how much is not yet clear. Islamabad will host a donor conference later this year 2010.

This monsoon disaster comes on the heels of the emergency humanitarian response to the ongoing conflict in Pakistan as military operations continue to displace people. Many people are impacted twice, first by the conflict and then by the floods, thereby drastically increasing their vulnerability. The economic and social impact of the floods in Pakistan is estimated to be huge.

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) have currently humanitarian experts on the ground having conducted five assessment missions across the region.