One month since Nepal floods, homeless survivors still need aid as hunger spreads

EXTRACTO DEL FEED · ATRIBUIDO AL MEDIO

Country: Nepal

Source: Islamic Relief

One month since the deadly Nepal floods, the humanitarian crisis continues to deepen and many survivors still urgently need aid, Islamic Relief says.

Thousands of survivors are still displaced from their homes and facing critical food shortages as emergency food rations run out – with many affected communities likely to face a hunger crisis well into 2027 as their livelihoods and farmland has been destroyed.

At least 1,450 people are now confirmed to have been killed, but more than 5,000 people are still missing and unaccounted for.

The floods, which swept rapidly through towns and villages on 26 August, have left more than 84,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance and caused around US$2.7 billion in damage, according to Nepalese government assessments. Around 7,000 buildings were completely destroyed, leaving 32,000 people still displaced – many of them still living in temporary shelters.

Islamic Relief launched an emergency appeal immediately after the floods and has so far delivered emergency shelter and other vital aid to more than 8,000 people, working closely with Nepalese authorities and local partners. It is now delivering food and emergency shelter support to a further 1,000 families.

Islamic Relief’s emergency response manager in Nepal, Laxmi Raj Joshi, said:

“The humanitarian impact of the flood has continued to deepen over the past month. Whole communities remain displaced and their income and homes are gone. Within a second they lost their household, their livelihood, their land and stores. Now they are in a deepening financial crisis.

“We are worried that in the coming weeks the food crisis will be alarming. Emergency food rations have been used, and people don’t have money to buy more. Without income and shelter, people don’t know where they will go or what will they do. People need continued support to stop hunger spreading and restore safe and dignified living conditions.”

Losses were compounded as many people were not expecting the scale and speed of the floods, so did not act until it was too late.

One survivor, Shyam Lal Shrestha, age 75, told Islamic Relief:

“When I first received the message that a flood was coming, I did not believe it. But when I saw the water rushing towards us, I realised how serious the situation was. I immediately ran to free my buffalo and make sure it could escape. At the same time, I pushed my wife towards a higher and safer place. She has a problem with her knees and could not run as fast as I could, so I was very worried about her safety. Everything happened so quickly. We had very little time to think or collect our belongings. Our main priority was simply to get ourselves and our animals to a safe place.

“For now, we are staying at our neighbour’s house and receiving food at the holding centre. But I do not know what will happen next. I have spent 75 years of my life here in this village. This is where I was born, where I have lived all my life, and where everything I know is. I cannot simply leave and go somewhere else. We have lost our sense of security, but I have nowhere else to go. I only hope that somehow we can rebuild our lives here.”

Islamic Relief has worked in Nepal since 2015 when it responded to the Gorkha earthquake. Last year the charity worked with local partner organisations to support over 113,000 people in Nepal, through projects providing education, safe water and helping communities adapt to climate change and more frequent disasters.