ISLAMABAD The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is planning to urgently airlift relief items to flood-stricken Baloc-histan to boost relief supplies in flood-hit region. Estimates put the number of people in Balochistan in need of shelter assistance at 287,000, but damage assessment across eastern areas of the province is ongoing and the number is expected to rise. Tens of thousands of people have fled flooding in Naseerabad and Jaffarabad, two of the hardest-hit districts in Balochistan, with more than 1,000 people having arrived in the Provincial Capital Quetta. More than 10,000 people fleeing rising waters in Sindh province have so far sought help in Balochistans Sibi district. The UN refugee agency initially plans to airlift plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and soap to Balochistan to assist flood-affected Pakistanis and Afghan refugees and is working to arrange suitable cargo flights. More than 4,700 tents and 5,000 kitchen sets are on their way from Karachi. UNHCR has so far dispatched shelter material for more than 46,000 people to communities across Balochistan. Humanitarian needs keep rising across Pakistan as assessment teams reach more remote areas, said Mengesha Kebede, UNHCRs Representative in Pakistan. Were getting aid to many vulnerable and exposed Pakistani and refugee families in flood stricken communities, but we urgently need more support to meet the vast needs, he added. Senior UNHCR official Ariane Rummery said, Theres still a lot of water, a lot of mud everywhere. Families have four feet of water in each room and are trying to scoop it out but lack tools as everything was buried or washed away. We visited one family in Babara that sheltered 70 neighbours on the roof and in the upper two rooms of their home while the flooding was at is peak, she added.