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Amid heartache of Nepal flooding disaster, fear remains
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
At least 1,400 people were killed, including 84 children, and nearly 5,300 people are still missing, after a mountain of glacial ice and rock collapsed into the Bhotekoshi, Upper Trishuli and Narayani-Gandak rivers in late August, unleashing a massive torrent that washed away bridges and homes.
In an update from Kathmandu, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder highlighted the traumatic experience of 16-year-old Sahara, who he met this week at a technical training supported by the agency. “Her mum was swept away by the floods and killed. Through tears, Sahara told me, ‘It's not nice to live without a mum.’”
Today, areas of impacted towns and villages “look like war zones”, Mr. Elder stressed, while access to some communities in Rasuwa remains difficult. “They continue to receive airlifted relief supplies in the most isolated areas,” said Caroline Holt, Director for Disasters, Climate and Crises at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “In the hardest-hit locations, families face disrupted markets, higher transport costs and shortages of essential goods as roads and communications are gradually restored.”
The IFRC official stressed the urgent need to support those impacted by the disaster. “People need more than assistance to survive, they need confidence in their future, they need to know where they live, how they will earn an income and when their children can return to school,” she said.
Among those requiring urgent assistance are Shushila and her husband, Jivan, after floodwater more than two metres high surged through their home, destroying their tailor’s shop and tea store. “They escaped with the clothes they were wearing, and nothing else. Shushila told me, ‘Maybe it would have been better if we weren't able to escape.’ That is the stress and trauma brought on by inaction elsewhere in the world,” Mr. Elder said, adding that UNICEF has supported Shushila and Jivan’s family with cash assistance. “With so many needs, how did they prioritize their spending? On their children; books, stationery and clothes,” he explained.
International support for vulnerable countries, including Nepal, that are on the front line of climate change is critical, as the Himalayas warm “about twice as fast as the global average”, Mr. Elder said.
Noting that Nepal produces only 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse emissions, the UNICEF spokesperson welcomed declarations of support from States parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) “to avert, minimize and address loss and damage. But for countries like Nepal, those commitments have to quickly translate into support that reaches affected families on the ground,” he said.
ends
Story: Nepal disaster update – UNICEF, IFRC
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
Duration: 2’19”
DATELINE: 9 October 2026 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF
- Caroline Holt, Director for Disasters, Climate and Crises, IFRC
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot, UN flag alley, UN Geneva.
- Wide, Press Room, podium sp, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “More than 32,000 children in Nepal have been affected by the floods that began when a mountain of glacial ice and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river in August. Parts of the towns and villages look like war zones. Scientists warn that as the Himalayas warm, this kind of disaster is becoming more and more likely and the countries that have done the least to cause it are being left to pay for it.”
- Medium-wide podium speakers and remote speaker on TV screen.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “Sahara is 16. I met her earlier this week at a technical training centre that UNICEF supports. Her mum was swept away by the floods and killed. Through tears, Sahara told me, ‘It's not nice to live without a mum.’”
- Wide, TV journalists, technicians in booths.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “The conditions of what happened in Nepal are well understood: the Himalayas are warming about twice as fast as the global average. Glaciers are shrinking, permafrost is thawing and the ice and frozen ground that hold these slopes together is weakening.”
- Medium-wide podium speakers and remote speaker on TV screen.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “Nepal produces only around one tenth of a single per cent of global greenhouse emissions. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have agreed to provide that finance to provide that support, to avert, minimize and address loss and damage. But for countries like Nepal, those commitments have to quickly translate into support that reaches affected families on the ground.”
- Wide, Press Room, participants, TV screens showing speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Caroline Holt, Director for Disasters, Climate and Crises, IFRC: “Access to some communities in Rasuwa is still difficult and they continue to receive airlifted relief supplies in the most isolated areas. In the hardest-hit locations, families face disrupted markets, higher transport costs and shortages of essential goods as roads and communications are gradually restored.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, TV screen showing speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Caroline Holt, Director for Disasters, Climate and Crises, IFRC: “We must move quickly from relief to recovery. People need more than assistance to survive, they need confidence in their future, they need to know where they live, how they will earn an income and when their children can return to school.”
- Medium, journalist.
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The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
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Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
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Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
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