Cáritas Nepal began distributing meals and essential goods to thousands of displaced people affected by flash floods that hit the country on the morning of August 26, near the border with Tibet. The water came down the Bhote Koshi River from Tibet, devastating markets, villages, and vital infrastructure in the border areas of Timure, Rasuwagadhi, and Syabrubesi. The natural disaster originated from a glacier collapse that triggered a magnitude 5.2 seismic event and unleashed violent torrents in the high-altitude zones.
Nepali and Chinese authorities have reported over a thousand dead and are still searching for nearly four thousand missing, including four Portuguese citizens identified by the Government in Lisbon. The immediate priorities identified include food, clean water, emergency shelter, blankets, mattresses, hygiene products, lighting, and healthcare, with greater medical capacity and psychosocial support also urgently needed.
Cáritas responded to the emergency by setting up more than half a hundred community kitchens, providing supplies to 300 affected families for a 15-day period. A partnership with Catholic Relief Services channeled $500,000 in funding to provide shelter, hygiene kits, and solar lighting systems to a thousand households. The Catholic Church also sent medicines worth nearly three thousand euros to the Gareni health post and plans to transfer direct financial support to 750 highly vulnerable families.
The possibility of new floods continues to be a cause for concern, requiring continuous monitoring, early warnings, and preparedness for downstream communities. The destruction of roads and the electrical grid hinders rescue operations in isolated communities, forcing field teams to monitor the constant risk of new floods.
