Emergency News:Devastating windstorm and heavy rain: Bajura and Dadeldhura Update

Devastating windstorm and heavy rain: Bajura and Dadeldhura Update

BAJURA

Windstorm and heavy rain on 31 May night caused heavy destruction in Bajura. Badhu VDC Pipaldandi and Kolti VDC are suffered by the incident. Five people died and three people are undergoing treatment in Nepalgunj Hospital.

Incident sites are one day walk far from the district headquarter. Government officials, NGOs and civil society members visited the sites and provided instant relief to the affected families and conducted rapid assessment of the losses.

41 families have been displaced in Badhu 9, Pipaldandi where 24 houses are completely and 11 houses are partially damaged. Other 20 houses and 25 shops are also damaged in Kolti VDC due to flood after the heavy rain. A Primary Health Centre of Kolti is severely damaged and medicine stock is also swept away by the flood. According to the local people, 18-20 families are displaced in Kolti and living with relatives.

Situation:

Displaced families in Pipaldandi have been provided shelter assistance. Some of the families are at local school and some are coping with relatives. According to the assessment team, there are other 100 houses in Badhu at risk and needs resettlement.

Drinking water system is collapsed in the both sites. According to the government assessment team, around 3,500 meter pipe in Pipaldandi is damaged that affected ward no 6, 7, 8 & 9. Around 2,000 meter pipe is damaged in Kolti also. Drinking water has become a serious problem in both places.

More than 100 domestic animals also died and only 25 dead animals have been recovered so far. Locals are worried of those dead animals and its environment and health implication.

Road segment from Kolti to Pipaldana is also damaged where 4-5 KM completely is swept.

Responses:

Emergency DDRC meeting held and requested to all agencies for the quick response.

District Administration Office provided Rs 25,000 compensation to the family of those five deceased. Similarly, the DAO provided compensation for the completely damaged and partially damaged houses of Pipaldandi Rs 5,000 and 3,000 respectively. This support is yet to be provided to the affected families at Kolti.

Local NGOs provided instant food relief (100 kg rice, 54 kg bitten rice, noodles, biscuits and etc) for 41 families of Badhu 9 Pipaldandi. Nepal Red Cross provided NFI especially tent and blanket to those 41 displaced families. DDC also supported them 20 kg rice and Rs 1,000 for each family.

DDRC has appealed with local, regional and national agencies for additional 4000 kg rice to feed the affected people.

Gaps:

Major gap is insufficient food support for the affected people. Needless to say, Bajura is one of the remotest districts where presence of international agencies is very low.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is serious issue for the affected. Since the drinking water system is collapsed, they are compelled to drink contaminated water from different sources.

Essential medicine is not available in both sites. All the stock of the PHC is damaged and its restoration has been problematic since the PHC itself is severely damaged.

DADELDHURA:

Devastating windstorm on 1^st June severely affected Dadeldhura district. One person died, more than 150 houses and schools are damaged. The DDRC Dadeldhura hold an emergency meeting and initiated the rapid assessment. The assessment report is yet to come out.

Situation:

The primary assessment undertaken by humanitarian agencies shows that Alital VDC is the most affected one. Nepal Police, District Administration Office and District Education Office are receiving different loss information and the DDRC is asked to lead it. So far the information is received, roofs of more than 100 houses are blown by the storm. The storm blew roofs of 34 schools across the district.  According to the sources, the number of public and institutional losses may increase.

Most of the affected families are poor and marginalized. Despite their roofs have blown, they have been coping somehow and no other instant humanitarian crisis is reported so far. However, Schools those roofs are blown, have been interrupted. 

Response:

A joint assessment is underway in the leadership of VDC.  NRCS is also providing NFI support to the affected families. According to the NRCS sources, they have provided 20 NFI so far. They have prioritized the affected families as per the intensity of the losses.  The affected families require only shelter assistance and the NRCS is gradually providing along with the assessment. United Mission to Nepal (UMN) Doti also has shown interest  to provide instant support to the affected families. It has been discussed that the NRCS will make necessary coordination with the UMN for the required assistance for the affected.

District Administration Office has provided compensation to the family of the dead. No other support and response has initiated from the government side so far. According to the District Education Office (DEO), they can only repair 8-10 schools.

DDRC has appealed support for the roof maintenance of schools and civilians’ houses.

Gaps:

A complete rehabilitation of the schools and civilians’ houses has become a challenge. Neither DEO nor the DAO seem having budget for such support. It is very essential to resume the school as it was already obstructed by the one month general strike in May. According to the NRCS, some of the affected families have maintained their roof but that does not long last. They might have problem when the monsoon starts.