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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Nepal faces another disaster when monsoon season strikes

This news post is almost 9 years old
 

​Aid groups say stricken country could face further devastation in June 's monsoons

Aid agencies face a race against time in disaster hit Nepal as they aim to save people before monsoon season strikes.

Two earthquakes rocked the country a month ago, killing 8,400 people dead and millions more homeless and in urgent need.

Although aid agencies have been working round the clock, many people are still in a desperate and precarious position.

This will be made much worse when the monsoons hit in June.

Director of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), Alistair Dutton, warned: “Even people who were relatively well off before have lost everything and need help urgently. With the monsoon rains due to hit the country in June the situation for many people will get worse.

“Families are continuing to sleep on the streets and people in isolated rural areas fear that rising waters and heavy winds will further damage their hillside towns.

With the monsoon rains due to hit the country the situation for many people will get worse

“So much rebuilding is needed. It will take a long time for people to recover. I urge people to continue supporting the people of Nepal in the months and years ahead.”

SCIAF has thanked its supporters after the charity received over £427,000 for its emergency response to the earthquakes.

Donors have helped provide almost 130,000 people tarpaulins, mats and blankets to make temporary shelters, as well as food, soap and help to get clean water.

One month on from the disasters, tremors continue to shake Kathmandu and the surrounding countryside.

An estimated 500,700 homes have been completely destroyed with nearly 300,000 badly damaged.

Many villages are accessible only on foot or by helicopter and rescue and aid teams are using tractors to reach some of the more isolated areas.

Dutton said: “I’d like to thank every single person who has offered their prayers and given their money to help the suffering people of Nepal after the devastating earthquakes turned their lives upside down. We’re helping to get temporary shelters, food, soap and water to thousands of the most vulnerable survivors.

“However the sheer scope of the damage to people’s homes, lives and their ability to support themselves is huge.”