The humanitarian disaster in Nepal is taking on alarming proportions after weeks of incessant torrential rains. To current time on September 15 the official death toll from the catastrophic landslides and floods in the mountainous country has reached 1,396 people, making this monsoon season one of the deadliest in a decade.
Epicenter of the disaster and blocked regions
Nepal's National Disaster and Emergency Management Agency reports that the hardest hit are the remote mountainous provinces in the western and central parts of the country. Mudslides and huge rock falls have buried entire villages, wiping out dozens of residential buildings and infrastructure.
Rescue teams, assisted by the Nepalese army, continue to search for hundreds of people who are still missing. However, work on the ground is extremely difficult. Key highways, including roads connecting the capital Kathmandu to the rest of the country, have been completely blocked by landslides, cutting off supplies of food, drinking water and medical supplies.
International aid and climate warnings
According to information from the Red Cross and the United Nations, cited by world media, over 45,000 families have been left homeless, and thousands of people have been accommodated in temporary camps and schools. Humanitarian organizations are warning of a serious risk of outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases due to contaminated water sources.
Meteorologists in the region warn that despite entering mid-September, the monsoon front over South Asia remains unusually active. Climate change experts emphasize that the increase in the frequency of these extreme events in the Himalayas is a direct consequence of global warming, which makes mountain slopes more unstable and vulnerable to intense rainfall.