Pre-positioned monsoon supplies let Direct Relief deploy quickly
Rescue teams continued searching Thursday for hundreds of people still missing along the Nepal-China border, one day after floods swept through border communities and killed more than 300 people. More than 1,400 people remained unaccounted for as humanitarian organizations mobilized to assist survivors.
The flooding was triggered Wednesday when part of a glacier collapsed, sending a torrent of water and mud described as several stories high through border communities. So many roads and bridges have been washed out that the Nepalese army has been forced to carry out rescue operations by helicopter.
Dan Hovey, vice president of emergency response at Direct Relief, said his organization had already pre-positioned emergency supplies in Nepal for the upcoming monsoon season. Hovey said the preparation had enabled Direct Relief to help quickly when the unexpected floods hit. Direct Relief provides medicines and healthcare to disaster-struck areas.
As MSI previously reported, the floods that triggered the humanitarian response killed more than 360 people and left around 1,450 missing when part of a glacier in the Langtang Lirung mountain area collapsed Wednesday, sending ice plunging some 4,000 feet into a valley below.