4 million homeless, 20 million people impacted, one-fifth of nation underwater in disaster worse than Hurricane Katrina, Haiti earthquake, or Asian tsunami

By Miriam Raftery

ECM intern Tasneem Kassamali also contributed to this story.

August 19, 2010 (San Diego) – San Diego State University finance student and software engineer Omed Habib was cleaning his closet when he heard about the floods devastating Pakistan.

“I am a child of Afghan refugees,” said Habib, whose parents came to the U.S. during the Soviet-Afghanistan War in 1981. Knowing what it’s like for a family to lose everything, he asked a friend involved in relief efforts how he could donate three bags of his clothing to Pakistan flood victims. Then he posted a notice on Facebook asking 500 friends for more help.