President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday sought to fend off an outcry over his response to Pakistan’s catastrophic floods by visiting a hard-hit area for the first time and handing out relief.

Mr Zardari came under fire from victims, the political opposition and critics for failing last week to cut short a visit to Europe to deal personally with what is now the country’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Water levels receded in Pakistan yesterday but survivors of record floods endured grim conditions in makeshift tent cities, as the UN appealed for 460 million dollars in urgent foreign aid.

Flood warnings remained in place for certain towns in Punjab and Sindh provinces but forecasters predicted only scattered rain, and many survivors were instead broiling in unbearable heat.

“The water level is receding in Sindh and Swat rivers and the water tendency is falling at Tarbela dam in the northwest,” Arif Mehmood, Pakistan’s chief meteorologist, said.

Another Pakistani river, the Chenab, is also going down, he said.

Pakistan’s government says 14 million people face direct or indirect harm from the floods. The United Nations believes 1,600 people have died in the floods, while Pakistan has confirmed 1,243 deaths. The United States, which has put Pakistan on the frontline of its war on Al-Qaeda, announced the deployment of an amphibious assault ship, taking the number of US helicopters available for the relief effort to 19.

President Barack Obama “wants to lean forward in offering help to the Pakistanis”, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

The Islamabad government has admitted to being overwhelmed, and hardline Islamic charities have conducted a highly visible aid effort on the ground.

The relief focus was switching to an estimated two million people who require shelter after fleeing flood-hit areas, as tents spring up along main roads and on the edge of major towns and cities.