Nepal Red Cross Society staff load relief supplies onto a vehicle at the society's headquarters in Kathmandu on Sept. 1.BYUN MIN-CHUL
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Trucks packed with generators, medicine and emergency supplies pulled out of the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) headquarters on Tuesday morning and headed toward communities cut off by catastrophic floods that have killed more than 1,000 people.
The NRCS has run its emergency operations center around the clock since the flood on Wednesday, serving as the country's relief command center. Beyond dispatching supplies, staff reconnect separated families and help authorities identify the missing and the dead. They are also preparing for a response that could last months.
An NRCS truck driver going by Dipak was loading generators for districts that have lost power and communications, along with medicine for the injured and the sick.
"The flood has cut off roads, so it is difficult to send relief supplies, but the situation is urgent," Dipak said. "We are trying somehow to get support as far as the trucks can go. These are people who have lost everything, so we have to support them with everything."
Smaller trucks and SUVs were also being loaded.
The NRCS warehouse was packed with goods sent from around the world. Tarps donated by Samsung through the Korean Red Cross were among them. Water and food are held at a larger warehouse about 20 minutes away, while blankets, masks and mosquito nets fill the headquarters building.
Relief supplies donated by Samsung that were sent to Nepal through the Korean Red Cross sit ready for distribution.BYUN MIN-CHUL
The NRCS had sent about 1,900 body bags across Nepal by Tuesday and secured roughly 2,000 more as the number of victims continued to rise.
"Relief supplies are coming from around the world, but Korea in particular has again provided major help, as it did after the 2015 Nepal earthquake," said Amar Mani Poudel, a deputy director at the NRCS. "It is deeply unfortunate and sad that Koreans are among the missing."
Relief supplies donated by Samsung that were sent to Nepal through the Korean Red Cross sit ready for distribution.BYUN MIN-CHUL
Staff have set up a hotline to establish what individual districts need and to help families reconnect.
"When someone loses contact with their family, we check the information and help connect them," said Bipul, a hotline staffer. "There are so many missing that the process is taking a long time."
At a meeting on Tuesday, staff reviewed current relief operations and discussed psychological support for the families of the missing and the dead, along with how to secure more than three months of supplies.
Red Cross staff meet to discuss flood recovery and support for survivors at an emergency operations center in Kathmandu on Tuesday.BYUN MIN-CHUL
"We are coordinating closely with the Nepali government to see where support is needed," said Rudra Adhikari, who oversees operations at the emergency center. "People have lost everything, so we need to support them with everything, but we are short of money and time."
Korean organizations are expanding their own relief effort. The Korean Red Cross, which has already sent supplies, plans to collect donations through November.
"A staff member flew to Nepal today to get an accurate picture of the damage," a Korean Red Cross official said. "The scale of our support will be decided once we understand what the Nepali authorities need."
Members of the government's joint rapid response team search for missing people alongside Nepali troops on Sept. 1MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Korean Association in Nepal has designated three relief hubs around Kathmandu and forwards donated supplies to disaster sites.
"Based on what people who have been to the flood-hit areas are telling us, we are sending mainly diapers and clothing for children and underwear for women," an association official said. "We heard people cannot even manage proper meals, so we are sending kitchen supplies as well."
Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority put the death toll in the country at 987 on Tuesday and the number of missing at 3,916 as of 9 a.m. The Nepal Police, which counts bodies recovered rather than deaths confirmed, reported 1,007 by 10 a.m. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 people missing at Gyirong Port, bringing the combined toll to at least 1,003 dead and 4,462 unaccounted for.
A Red Cross relief shelter is set up near a flood-hit area in Nepal.BYUN MIN-CHUL
On Tuesday, the Korean government decided through its public-private overseas emergency relief council to send a 44-member Korea Disaster Relief Team drawn from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korea International Cooperation Agency and the National Fire Agency. The team was due to leave Tuesday night aboard a military aircraft for about 10 days of disaster relief, rescue and medical work in Rasuwa district, including searches for victims.
A separate government rapid response team already in Nepal began a joint search with the Nepali Army on Tuesday for the nine Koreans still missing near the flood site. Six work for Doosan Enerbility and three for Korea South-East Power, and all were at a hydroelectric plant construction site in Rasuwa when the flood struck. The team is searching on the ground and is considering the use of drones.
BY BYUN MIN-CHUL [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
