Nepal faces $5bn rebuild after catastrophic Himalayan floods Disaster is still unfoldingNepal is facing a reconstruction bill that could reach $5 billion after catastrophic flooding devastated communities along its northern frontier with Tibet, while the country's prime minister has demanded urgent international action over the growing dangers facing the Himalayas. Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle said preliminary estimates suggested rebuilding damaged infrastructure in the worst-hit Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts could cost as much as $5 billion. But even that figure remains uncertain. The full scale of the destruction is still being assessed as rescue teams battle difficult terrain, damaged roads, continuing weather risks and isolated communities. ‘This was not an ordinary flood’Prime Minister Balendra Shah has described the disaster as anything but a conventional flood. He said the catastrophe in the Bhotekoshi River area was triggered by a massive collapse of snow and ice in the Himalayas, sending an enormous volume of ice and rock into the river system. The debris temporarily blocked the water before the natural barrier failed. What followed was a devastating wall of water rushing downstream. Shah says the disaster is a warning of the increasingly dangerous conditions developing across the Himalayan region. He has called on Nepal to raise the issue forcefully with the international community and demand action over climate-related risks. A disaster far beyond NepalThe human toll has now become staggering. Nepal's disaster authorities reported 987 deaths and 3,916 people missing, while China has reported a further 16 deaths. Among those reported missing in Nepal are hundreds of foreign nationals. The figures remain fluid as rescue teams reach areas that have been cut off and authorities continue trying to establish what happened to entire communities caught in the flooding. The disaster began in the high Himalayas but its consequences have travelled rapidly down the valleys. The Himalayas are becoming more dangerousNepal has always lived with avalanches, landslides and floods. Its spectacular mountain landscape is also an extremely dangerous one. But scientists have warned that a warming climate is adding new risks. Glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalayan region are losing ice rapidly, while thawing permafrost, unstable slopes, glacial lakes and increasingly erratic rainfall can combine to create conditions for sudden and devastating floods and landslides. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development has repeatedly warned that communities and infrastructure across the region face increasing exposure to these hazards. For Nepal, the problem is particularly cruel. The country has contributed little to the greenhouse-gas emissions driving global warming, yet its geography leaves it exceptionally exposed to the consequences. Billions needed — and more disasters comingThe $5 billion reconstruction estimate is enormous for a country of fewer than 30 million people. And Nepal was already struggling with the financial burden of disasters before this catastrophe struck. The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure estimates that around $124 billion of Nepal's infrastructure is exposed to climate-related disasters. Average annual losses from disasters are estimated at roughly $760 million. The country's disaster funds are only a fraction of that amount. That leaves Nepal facing a brutal cycle: disaster destroys infrastructure, scarce resources are diverted into rebuilding, and the next disaster threatens to destroy it again. The international billWagle said the rebuilding requirement could ultimately be lower than the roughly $9 billion spent following Nepal's devastating 2015 earthquake, which killed around 9,000 people. But officials stress that the current assessment is incomplete. And unlike the earthquake, this disaster has struck a complicated chain of river valleys and remote mountain communities where access itself has become a major obstacle. Roads, bridges, communications and other infrastructure have been damaged precisely where rescuers need them most. Nepal's warning to the worldShah's political challenge is now enormous. He must oversee an emergency rescue operation while beginning the task of rebuilding devastated communities — and convince wealthier countries that Nepal cannot be expected to carry the financial burden alone. His argument is straightforward. Nepal did not create the global climate problem. But it is increasingly being forced to pay for its consequences. The Himalayas are warming, glaciers are retreating and the landscape is becoming increasingly unstable. And the latest disaster has delivered a terrifying demonstration of what that can mean. Nepal is no longer simply asking the world for help after a disaster. It is warning the world about the disasters still to come. SOURCE
