Two weeks ago, a glacier collapsed near the border of Nepal and China, creating massive flash floods and debris flows. Tens of thousands of people lost their homes.
ShelterBox, a Santa Barbara-based international disaster relief agency, sent a group to Nepal to provide aid. They call the scale of destruction 'overwhelming.'
"I visited an area called Nuwakot," said the organization's Sonja Hughes. "I was walking through an area that used to be a village, and you could see where the river had risen so high that you could see the water marks high up on trees."
She spoke to KCLU recently from Nepal. Hughes added that efforts are continuing to find missing people.
"People are really desperate for news. The hope is to find people alive, but, for many families, the goal is to find out what's happened to their loved ones."
ShelterBox is providing items like tents, solar lights, and blankets to survivors in Nepal. The nonprofit organization regularly supplies essentials to people displaced by disasters or conflicts.
"They've lost their homes, belongings, livestock, their land," explained Hughes.
Victims who have lost their homes are staying with friends and relatives or in holding centers. According to Hughes, a significant shipment of ShelterBox supplies recently arrived in the disaster zone.
"It's around 20 tons of emergency aid, which includes tents, as well as solar lights which are going to be critical in coming weeks."
Aid workers are also racing against the seasons, trying to help people before winter arrives.
"The temperatures are going to start to drop at the end of September. We're not just thinking about providing people with emergency shelter, but with things like insulation mats, sleeping bags, and warm clothes," said Hughes.
Rescue teams are struggling to reach people in remote areas of Nepal. With most roads destroyed, they're using helicopters. According to Hughes, relief organizations believe more than 40,000 people still need emergency shelter in the disaster zone.
