Nepal Faces Crisis After Devastating Floods

The harsh smell of death hangs over Bidur, a town in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, after last week’s catastrophic floods. Workers are seen unloading bodies from ambulances and placing them on blue tarp in restricted areas. Helicopters, both military and civilian, usually used for tours, now ferry aid and bring survivors needing medical care.

Kalpana Shrestha, a nurse in Kathmandu, faces a personal crisis. Her family, including two sisters and their children, are missing. She shared photos of them through various media channels but received no responses. The flood destroyed Betrawati, around 60 miles from Kathmandu, leaving her desperate for information. “I have posted so much that my fingers tremble,” she said.

According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, over 1,000 people have died, and 3,915 are missing, including 583 foreign nationals. In Tibet, the death toll stands at 16 with 546 missing, as reported by China’s CGTN. Among the missing in Nepal, 80 are Americans. More than 10,000 people, including 252 foreign nationals, have been rescued as stated by the United Nations. This disaster, caused by a glacier collapse and landslide bordering China, is the deadliest since the April 2015 earthquake that led to approximately 9,000 deaths in Nepal.

Shrestha voiced frustration over the government’s insufficient search efforts for her family, highlighting that access remains challenging. “Our brothers tried reaching them but failed,” she explained, citing destroyed roads. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs mentioned that road access is limited to Nuwakot, with several highways leading to affected areas blocked.

The retrieval of bodies presents a major challenge. Nepal’s disaster agency is utilizing 21 hospitals across districts for storage. Authorities bury some bodies to prevent infection, intending eventual identification and return to families. In Pokhara, Nabin Karki, a superintendent of police, described efforts to collect DNA samples. Displaying photos of recovered bodies, they hope relatives can identify them. Relatives are encouraged to give blood samples for DNA matching, allowing families to claim and properly bury their loved ones.