Nepal floods: ‘Apocalyptic’ destruction signals wider climate threat across Himalayas

The catastrophic flooding that swept away entire villages in northern Nepal could occur again in the country or elsewhere in the Himalayas due to climate change.The warning comes from Sara Netzer, regional director with UN field operations office UNOPS, which provides infrastructure, procurement and project management services across the world. Fresh from Nepal, she updated journalists in Geneva on the extent of the destruction, how UNOPS and partners have been supporting the response, and the difficulties of building back after devastation. “As we think about reconstruction, normally two to three weeks after a disaster, we would start to see communities rebuilding,” she said, speaking from Bangkok. “But that can’t be the case in these communities in Nepal.” Communities ‘completely obliterated’The flash floods and landslides – triggered by a glacier collapse in late August – killed more than 1,200 people. Homes were moved wholesale up to 150 metres from where they once stood. Ms. Netzer described visiting some of the hardest hit areas, including one community of some 400 homes, and 1,200 people, where “everything was completely obliterated” by a wall of water and mud. “It looks lik...