More than 1,250 people are dead and thousands are missing after the August 26 floods in northern Nepal. On September 4, the United Nations and its partners asked donors for $49.6 million to help 84,000 survivors.
UN officials say the disaster began when a glacier on the Nepal-Tibet border collapsed. The surge of water tore through Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading, taking out roads, schools, power lines and water systems. The Himalayan Times reported that the floods and landslides have left whole communities displaced.
What the money will buy
The plan runs four months and is coordinated by Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. Winter is the deadline. Aid agencies want shelter materials in place before the cold hits the high villages.
Households will get cash directly. Families without electricity will get portable solar units. Crews will repair and purify water supplies and hand out hygiene supplies to keep disease from spreading, while mobile clinics deliver medical care and nutrition support. Protection workers will help reunite children who were separated from their parents. Food aid is part of the package too.
Livestock gets attention as well. Agriculture makes up nearly a quarter of Nepal’s economy, and the UN wants surviving animals protected so rural families keep some income.
“Families have lost everything: their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods,” said UN Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia. In the version carried by The Himalayan Times, she added that those livelihoods were “swept away in minutes.”
Supplies already in Kathmandu
UNICEF has already moved goods. It supported a flight carrying 84 metric tonnes of supplies into Kathmandu: treatment kits for diarrhea, water tanks, hygiene items, winter clothing and learning materials. The shipment is meant to reach hundreds of thousands of people. Teams have also set up child-friendly spaces and are working to head off disease outbreaks.
UNICEF representative Alice Akunga said the work is far from over. “Continued support is essential to help children recover, stay healthy, return to learning, and rebuild their lives in the weeks and months ahead,” she said. “The needs remain significant and every day matters.”
Sources
- UN aims to raise nearly $50 million for Nepal flood response
- UN Launches $49.6M Appeal for Nepal Flood Victims
