Authorities in Pakistan are struggling to get aid to the tens of thousands of flood victims in the country's south.

The Pakistani military said Monday that troops have been deployed to districts throughout Sindh province and have rescued 58,000 people stranded by the rising water. Security forces have also distributed 885 tons of food and other rations to flood victims.

The United Nations has launched a $357 million appeal to help people cope with the catastrophic floods, which were triggered by monsoon rains. At least 300 people have been killed and more than 5 million affected by the disaster in the last two months.

The U.N. said Monday its Rapid Response Plan for 2011 aims to provide the families worst hit by the flooding in Pakistan with food, water, sanitation, health and emergency shelter for six months.

The Pakistani military says army doctors have treated close to 39,000 patients in medical camps and mobile medical units set up in Sindh province.

Twenty-two out of 23 districts in Sindh and some parts of neighboring Baluchistan province have been flooded.

The United Nations says nearly one million homes have been destroyed and 72 percent of crops have been lost in the flooding.

Pakistan is still recovering from last year's devastating floods that killed more than 1,700 people and affected nearly 20 million others. Aid agencies say tens of thousands of families left homeless by last year's disaster are still without proper housing.