2010-08-22 CNN

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Well, you've made it to Thursday. I'm Carl Azuz. This is CNN Student News! Your hearing: Listen up, 'cause we're gonna be talking about that in just a bit. We start off today, though, in Pakistan.

First Up: Pakistan Aid

AZUZ: Severe flooding has left 20 percent -- one fifth -- of the country underwater, and officials are worried about the threat of disease. A lot of the victims are walking through dirty flood waters, and that can lead to the spread of things like cholera or typhoid. Experts are estimating that as many as 3.5 million children are at risk of getting sick.

Of course, the most immediate concern is aid: food, medical supplies. The United Nations has asked for $460 million from the international community. Only about half of that has been raised so far. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to announce today that the United States will be sending more aid to Pakistan. Sara Sidner has more on the relief efforts.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here off the shores of Karachi on the USS Peleliu with the Expeditionary Strike Group 5. It is their whole mission to make sure to be available when there is some sort of disaster. They patrol these waters, and they were in the area to help those in the flood zones in Pakistan. They've been able to get about 5,000 people out of those flood zones, rescuing them with helicopters. They've also been able to drop about a half million pounds of aid. They say they will be here for as long as it takes. There are more helicopters coming in; there are more ships coming in. The U.S. says that it has a humanitarian commitment that they're going to make to Pakistan. They've already given about $90 million in kind. But the U.N. continually saying that there is simply not enough aid being offered to this country.