The contrast with New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina could not be more marked. In the US, when government help did not arrive, armed looters roamed the streets and survivors had to huddle together for safety. In Pakistan, people have arrived from all over the country to help in the relief effort. They have simply abandoned their jobs. Some hitched lifts, clinging dangerously on to the sides of trucks and mini buses as they wound around the hairpin curves over a sickening drop to the valley below. Others simply walked for hours across the hills in the blistering sun, denying themselves even water because it is the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
But officials in both countries are defensive of relief efforts, saying blocked roads and a lack of helicopters have prevented rescue teams reaching far-flung areas. Pakistani presidential spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told CNN some areas had been "virtually impossible to reach" via land routes.
