Nepal Flooding Disaster
Moments Before Disaster// Flowing through the city, water floods Nepal, unfortunately causing many missing person reports and deaths. The impact of this natural disaster is worldwide as visitors from America and the UK are experiencing effects from it as well. (Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons)
Devastating flash floods in Nepal started at 8:37 AM local time on Wednesday, August 26. A flash flood is a rapid rise of water usually in places such as valleys, dry or arid regions, and in this case, mountainous regions. It was caused by a large glacier in Langtang National Park that sheared off. This caused an avalanche, although at first, many assumed it was an earthquake due to the magnitude of how it fell off the mountain. Natural disasters in Nepal are becoming more and more common as the earth heats up, due to the ice in the Himalayas melting, which causes land to become more liquified. The disaster ruined cities surrounding the Lhende Khola and Trishuli rivers. A 2,000 feet wide hanging glacier fell off a 7,000 meter mountain at roughly 120 miles per hour. So far, 1,300 people have unfortunately passed, causing a difficult struggle for everyone around the world.
There are still many who are unaccounted for-nearly 5,000. This is causing lots of investigation including DNA sampling in order to identify victims. Because of all these deaths, there are a lot of burials needed causing a worry for public health and sanitation. Not only were there population losses, there was also an economic loss as well. Researchers speculate that between 4 billion and 7 billion dollars was lost due to this crisis. There is also permanent geographical alteration in the river beds changing infrastructure.
This is one of Nepal’s worst climate-related catastrophes. It will leave a mark on the people whose loved ones lost their lives, the people that lost their homes, the people who lost their jobs, the people with injuries that will affect them their whole life, and most of all the fear of how powerful nature truly is and how it might impact the community in the future. Although we live far away, there are many ways to help contribute to the community in Nepal. Here are some links for further information:
Nepal Flood Relief Fund:
Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund:
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