Over 600 have been confirmed dead and almost 3,000 people are missing after Wednesday's devastating flood disaster in Nepal and Tibet.
"People are still in a state of shock. The tragic thing now is that even though the rescue work continues, fewer and fewer are being found," says Björn Söderberg, a social entrepreneur who has lived in the country for 25 years.
Everyone here has someone they know who is missing. People are becoming more and more desperate.
“The Great Terror”
At the same time, there is great fear that a similar flood could soon occur, from a new lake formed by water from the collapsed glacier that is suspected of having caused Wednesday's disaster.
That's the big fear. People are scared. They see that this could happen again. The glacier is melting. We know very well that it is melting and many are now sitting and wondering if this could happen in their valley.
Kathmandu is located approximately 130 kilometers from the disaster area and the entire city is affected.
This is the topic of conversation. No one can go to work and think clearly. Everyone is emotionally affected. There are so many cases where someone has been in the area and met survivors and you see that there is only one person left in the family, says Söderberg, adding that there are “infinitely many” such cases.
Very helpful quickly
Björn Söderberg runs a company that builds sustainable and more earthquake-resistant houses and collaborates with aid organizations in the affected area.
A lot of help will be needed quickly now, because there are tens of thousands of people who have nowhere to live, no food and nothing to drink.
Many houses in the poor country have not yet been rebuilt after previous natural disasters, says Björn Söderberg. Nepal has been hit by several major earthquakes since 2015, and as recently as 2024, there was extensive flooding after monsoon rains.
Nobody even remembers it anymore. Right now we have our eyes on this, but it's quickly getting lost in the noise of everything else. But unfortunately this is a pattern and not an isolated incident. That's what worries me the most.
