Heavy rains are hampering the rescue operation in Pakistan where ActionAid partners have been evacuating people caught up in the worst floods in 80 years.

The death toll has now reached 1,500 with over 2.5 million people affected. The rains had stopped in the past few days allowing rescue teams and emergency response teams better access but the situation on the ground remains extremely challenging.

ActionAid is so far helping more than 3,300 families - over 23,000 people - in the worst hit areas. In the Punjab areas of Kot Adu, Layyah, Khoshab and Bhakar ActionAid is working with partners to distribute food to 1,800 families including rice, sugar, pulses, oil and tea.

Twelve medical camps have been set up in these areas providing life-saving medicines and support from local doctors. In the districts of Azad Jammu Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa – which includes the hard hit areas of Swat and Swabi - the agency is also providing sheets, mattresses and mosquito nets to displaced survivors who have been left most vulnerable by the floods.

Zia Nawab, an ActionAid partner working in Swat, said: "The destruction is vast: whole villages and settlements have been washed away, the entire geography of the area has been altered. It is hard to believe that buildings, roads and trees could disappear so fast. This time there is nothing left. What people need right now is food, water and clothing. Everyone is affected in one way or another but those whose houses have been washed away are most in need.

"People are desperately waiting for rescue and relief. The government’s response cannot reach everyone. Helicopters are flinging out food packages in hard-to-reach areas but it is not enough.  Access to most affected areas is difficult as roads and bridges have been damaged. With more heavy rain, rivers could burst their banks  - the situation is now at tipping point.”