(CNN) -- The floods that ravaged Pakistan this summer caused an estimated $9.7 billion in damage to homes, roads, farms and other parts of the southwestern Asian country, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank announced Thursday.
The determination, made after a survey examining damage in 15 key sectors across the country, is more than twice the cost of 2005's 7.6-magnitude earthquake that killed an estimated 86,000 people in northern Pakistan, the World Bank said. Agriculture and livestock were particularly hard hit, while the flooding also destroyed a large number of houses and damaged roads and irrigation facilities.
"Our job as friends of Pakistan is to help the country respond to this enormous reconstruction challenge," said Rachid Benmessaoud, the World Bank country director for Pakistan.
The flooding began in early August, and floodwaters continued to rage in the countryside more than seven weeks later. More than 1,700 people died due to the flooding, according to Pakistani authorities, while more than 20 million were displaced. Many of those suffered from various medical maladies, including at least 700,000 cases of acute diarrhea, 800,000 acute respiratory infections, nearly a million cases of skin disease and almost 183,000 suspected malaria cases, the United Nations reported.
Speaking at a meeting Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, with European Union and NATO officials, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Pakistan must implement economic reforms to ensure victims of the catastrophic flooding receive support and that wealthy Pakistanis should be doing their part.
CNN
