‘Felt like tsunami from the Himalayas’: Nepal says flash flood damage likely upwards of $5 billion; calls other nations to pitch in

Nepal flash floods: The damage caused to the Himalayan nation could be around $5 billion, as per some estimates, but Nepal’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, said the loss could actually be upwards of $5 billion. Nepal had sought compensation from big polluter countries, also naming India and China, for the catastrophe. Nepal contributes about 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Khanal rowed back on the comments but urged other nations to come together to help Nepal. He said it was not about blaming a country or another but about working together.

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Speaking to The Guardian, Khanal described the deluge: “This felt like a tsunami that was coming from the Himalayas…We experienced waves as high as 60, 70 feet, which were mixed with debris, mud, stones, rocks, and came at the speed of almost 180 km per hour. Towns, villages and highways were completely wiped out and there are some areas still disconnected.”

He said the Nepalese finance and environment ministries wrote to the UN requesting funds for the loss and damage. It requested $20 million in climate-related damages. The minister said that the compensation from the US was “obviously not nearly enough” to cover the damages sustained.

More than 20,000 homes will have to be rebuilt, as well as the central highway, some villages will have to be relocated too.

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Khanal argued that Nepal as a country has contributed “so little to climate change”, and called countries that have a much larger greenhouse gas contribution than them to share responsibility. “This affects all of humanity,” he said.

The minister said that the disaster was particularly worrying because it was also an indication of what was to come. “The global community should not see this as a one-off disaster,” said Khanal, adding that this is likely to be a recurring scenario that is going to impact more and more communities. The compensation call would work as a mechanism to help vulnerable and small economies.

As per the report, the UN fund has received requests of $2.8 billion from 119 countries, but only $400 million has been given. The US gave just $17 million.

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Khanal said it is true that some people might argue against their perspective and say there’s no climate change, but then again there are also people who would argue that the world is flat. The minister also said that neither Nepal nor China had any idea about the threat till it happened.

As many as 1,300 are confirmed dead and as many as 5,500 are still missing.