Nepal storm survivors struggle for food, housing
Storm took everything with it: Nepal survivors struggle to pick up the pieces
The survivors of a severe thunderstorm over the weekend in southern Nepal have been struggling to get back on their feet without sufficient food or a roof over their heads this week.
The severe thunderstorm which hit southern Nepal on March 31, killed more than 30 people, injured hundreds and destroyed nearly 400 houses, local media reported.
The storm, accompanied by heavy rainfall, destroyed buildings, uprooted trees, electric, and telephone poles. With no roof on their heads and their food stock destroyed, people living in the impoverished settlements were the worst-affected.
"We don't have anything to eat," said a survivor in Bara, where the storm hit. "The storm took everything with it," he added.
Despite being less than 100 kilometres from the capital, Kathmandu, the Bara region is remote, meaning rescue and cleanup operations have taken days. Pre-monsoon thunderstorms are common in Nepal during the spring season but are rarely of an intensity that causes high casualties.