Amid heartache of Nepal flooding disaster, fear remains

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. 

At least 1,400 people were killed, including 84 children, and nearly 5,300 people are still missing, after a mountain of glacial ice and rock collapsed into the Bhotekoshi, Upper Trishuli and Narayani-Gandak rivers in late August, unleashing a massive torrent that washed away bridges and homes.

Lasting trauma

In an update from Kathmandu, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder highlighted the traumatic experience of 16-year-old Sahara, who he met this week at a technical training supported by the agency. “Her mum was swept away by the floods and killed. Through tears, Sahara told me, ‘It’s not nice to live without a mum.’”

Today, areas of impacted towns and villages “look like war zones”, Mr. Elder stressed, while access to some communities in Rasuwa remains difficult. 

“They continue to receive airlifted relief supplies in the most isolated areas,” said Caroline Holt, Director for Disasters, Climate and Crises at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “In the hardest-hit locations, families face disrupted markets, higher transport costs and shortages of essential goods as roads and communications are gradually restored.”

“Unless the world acts to reduce climate risks, we will keep returning to the same valleys after the next flood and after the next landslide, and yet again find children paying the highest price. This is true in Nepal, across Asia, across the Pacific and around the world,” James Elder – UNICEF

Security call

The IFRC official stressed the urgent need to support those impacted by the disaster. 

“People need more than assistance to survive, they need confidence in their future, they need to know where they live, how they will earn an income and when their children can return to school,” she said.

Among those requiring urgent assistance are Shushila and her husband, Jivan, after floodwater more than two metres high surged through their home, destroying their tailor’s shop and tea store. 

“They escaped with the clothes they were wearing, and nothing else,” Mr. Elder said. “Shushila told me, ‘Maybe it would have been better if we weren’t able to escape.’ That is the stress and trauma brought on by inaction elsewhere in the world,” Mr. Elder noted, adding that UNICEF has supported Shushila and Jivan’s family with cash assistance. “With so many needs, how did they prioritize their spending? On their children; books, stationery and clothes.”

COP31 call

International support for vulnerable countries, including Nepal, that are on the front line of climate change is critical, as the Himalayas warm “about twice as fast as the global average”, Mr. Elder said.

Noting that Nepal produces only 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse emissions, the UNICEF spokesperson welcomed declarations of support from States parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) “to avert, minimize and address loss and damage. But for countries like Nepal, those commitments have to quickly translate into support that reaches affected families on the ground,” he said, ahead of this year’s UNFCCC summit (COP31) in Antalya, Turkïye, from 9-20 November.

“Unless the world acts to reduce climate risks, we will keep returning to the same valleys after the next flood and after the next landslide, and yet again find children paying the highest price. This is true in Nepal, across Asia, across the Pacific and around the world,” said Mr. Elder.