More Rain Lashes Drenched Pakistan

More rain soaked flood-ravaged Pakistan today and even heavier downpours were forecast for coming days, deepening a crisis in which hardline Islamists have rushed to fill gaps in the government's patchy response. Pakistani officials estimate as many as 13 million people have been affected by the rising waters. About 1,500 have died, most in the northwest, the hardest-hit region. Mass evacuations are under way in the southern province of Sindh after the Indus River rose there.

Floodwaters receded somewhat yesterday in the northwest, but downpours in the evening and early today again swelled rivers and streams. A Pakistani meteorologist said heavy rains in Afghanistan were expected to make things even worse over the next 36 hours as the bloated Kabul River surged into Pakistan's northwest. "Let the flood come. We will live and die here," said Dur Mohammed, 75, who lives in a mud brick home in Dadli village. (More Pakistan stories.)