President Asif Ali Zardari was due to return to Pakistan after a prolonged European tour that sparked fury at home over his absence at a time of national disaster and saw one protester throw a shoe at him in England.
The entire northwestern Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, was cut off at the weekend as were parts of the country's breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.
US military helicopters have been grounded since Saturday due to persistent heavy rains in the northwest.
The United Nations said humanitarian needs in Pakistan were now on a similar level to those following the country?s 2005 earthquake, when more than 73,000 people were killed and about 3.5 million left homeless.
Martin Mogwanja, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, said aid provided so far had alleviated suffering but called on relief operations "to be massively scaled up". The world body estimates that 1,600 people have died.
"Shelter, plastic sheeting and household goods are the most important gap. Stocks need to be urgently airlifted to the affected areas," he added.
The United Nations estimated that up to 500,000 people are homeless and 1.4 million acres of agricultural land destroyed in central Punjab province, but said damage was worst in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Although Pakistan's meteorological office forecast only scattered rain in the next 24 hours and said the intensity of monsoon showers was lessening, thousands of people were still fleeing to safer ground Monday.
Authorities in the Punjab district of Muzaffargarh issued a red alert and ordered people to evacuate as water entered the city from breaches in canals.
"The situation is very serious. We are totally helpless. That's why we asked people to move to a safer place," local official Farasat Iqbal told AFP.
Residents said thousands of people were leaving, crammed into every type of transport, with goods piled on to tractor, trucks and rickshaws.
An overloaded army boat evacuating people in the Punjab town of Jampur capsized Sunday and 30 people are missing, said a local official.
Landslides have blocked the road between Malakand and Swat, local police chief Qazi Jamil said. Heavy rains continued in Upper Swat, he said.
At least 14 people, including three children were killed as flash floods destroyed homes in the the northwestern Hangu district and in the lawless Khyber district on the Afghan border, 150 houses were destroyed in floods.
With the floods sweeping south, thousands of people were pouring into the city of Sukkur as heavy rains continued to lash the province of Sindh and water levels rose further in the swollen Indus river.
"People are heading towards Sukkur. It is a big human crisis. We don't know how many have come and how many more will come," said Inamullah Dharejo, a senior administration official in the city of two million.
People fled in whatever they could, carrying goats and whatever they could. Roads were submerged in several places and scores of villages were under water, while families sat on roadsides in Sukkur.
Survivors have lashed out at authorities for failing to come to their rescue, piling pressure on a cash-strapped administration straining to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.
"We have no food, no shelter," said Mohammad Bakhsh, a 50-year-old farmer. "We are poor. We are labourers and we are living in a virtual hell."
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has visited flood-hit areas and called for international aid, saying the disaster had spiralled beyond the government's ability to respond.
"Millions of people have suffered and still there is more rain and further losses are feared. I appeal to the world to help us," he told reporters.
Foreign donors including the United States have pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid but, on the ground, Islamic charities with suspected extremist links have been far more visible in the relief effort than the government.
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