UN agencies begin aid operation in Nepal after flash floods in Gorkha district

The United Nations has begun an aid operation in Nepal after new flash floods in the central Gorkha district on Sunday, according to UN News, the organization's own news service. The floods swept away homes and bridges. They came weeks after catastrophic flooding in the north of the country.

UN News cites Nepali authorities as saying at least five people are missing and 95 have been rescued. It says hundreds are affected. It gives no figure for the dead and does not say how many people have lost their homes. UN News says it is believed a landslide blocked the Budhi Gandaki River and caused the disaster. It does not say who holds that belief.

The UN Country Team in Nepal said on social media: “Our hearts are with every family affected by the Budhi Gandaki floods.” It added: “We stand with Nepal.”

The UN is supporting Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) in getting food to people who lost their homes. The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday that three trucks carrying ready-to-eat food and relief supplies were on the way to meet the immediate needs of affected communities.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called the floods “devastating” in a post on social media. It said they have damaged key roads, crops and livestock, and threaten local food security. The UN Country Team said FAO drones and satellite imagery from the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) are being used to “map damage in places roads can’t reach.”

UN News reports that the flood waters disrupted water supply, education and healthcare. It says displaced families need safe shelter, clean drinking water, child protection and psychosocial support. UNICEF, the UN children's agency, is supporting rapid assessments to identify the impacts and decide priorities for the immediate response. UNICEF also has emergency supplies stored in advance and ready for deployment. UN News lists hygiene kits, water treatment supplies, dignity kits, winter clothing, education materials and psychosocial support services.

UN News says communities in Nepal are still reeling from flooding in late August that was triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas. It reports that at least 1,400 people were killed and more than 5,000 are still missing. It does not say who counted them.

The UN is a party to this story. UN agencies are carrying out the response, and the accounts of it come from UN News and from posts by UN agencies. This paper cannot check them. The sources do not say how much the operation costs, and they do not say whether the UN is asking member states for money or supplies. A Chinese-language UN News item carries only a short summary that matches the English report.