Floods Threaten Villages & SCN Ministries in Western Nepal

The district of Surkhet where Sisters work in ministry, was the hardest hit by the rains. Eighteen people were killed and 36 others went missing on Friday when flash floods triggered by incessant rains for the past two days swept away scores of houses in various parts of Surkhet district, with the flood waters inundating several settlements.

Dolsie D’Mello, SCN, shares this first hand account from the Navjyoti Center mission in Surkhet.

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She says, “The effect of floods and landslides caused by three days of rainfall has been particularly devastating in Surkhet. It has been a nightmare for many villages here. In the middle of the night rushing waters entered homes and many were washed away in their sleep. People who were awake could run away to safe places leaving their belongings. A mother with two small children saved herself by hanging on an iron rod from her house ceiling and she kept her children safe by making a cradle, tying a cloth on the iron rod. An educational school building run by the SCNs is completely washed away

“The small streams in many villages have turned into wide rivers. The rushing waters turned upside down trees and rocks. It is indeed heart-breaking to see the belongings of the people flowing in the water. Many have became homeless and displaced. Crops, vegetation and live-stock are destroyed. Many schools in the area have sheltered the homeless. What will happen to them when the schools have to be re-opened? How long can the schools shelter them? People are in great need of food, shelter, drinking water and medical care. The towns and the villages have been in darkness since Aug. 14. Travel and communication have become very difficult. Bus services are cancelled to many places due to land slides and road blocks and many are stranded without food and shelter. It will take a long time for people to be rehabilitated. Our Sisters along with their team are trying to reach out to the affected people in whatever way we can,” says Sister Dolcie.