4 ShelterBoxes and 525 towards 5th
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Wednesday 06 May 2015
Video: ‘The destruction is totally overwhelming’ ShelterBox response volunteer Nicola Hinds (UK) assesses the level of need for shelter in Nepal's remote villages
ShelterBox response team members Becky Maynard and Nicola Hinds (both from the UK) have been assessing the need for aid in the remote villages of Nepal following last week’s deadly earthquake.
They travelled northwest from the capital of Kathmandu to get a better understanding of the level of destruction, what type of shelter would be needed and how best to transport it.
Becky described the difficult driving conditions to reach these communities: "The roads to this hard-to-reach area had just been cleared of landslide debris, and even then were difficult to navigate. It was a dry day but in wet conditions it would be treacherous to any vehicles."
In this video, fellow team member Nicola shows us the amount of destruction caused in the villages that they came across, where bricks and timber have cascaded down the mountainside and people have been living under nothing but plastic sheeting.
During the assessments, the ShelterBox volunteers travelled with the GEA Search and Rescue organization from Turkey, who were distributing food and clean water, along with medics from Switzerland who were providing emergency medical assistance to people who had been injured by the quake.
Becky said: "Despite the tragedy of the situation this was the first time we had seen hope rather than fear in people. This was the first time that aid of any kind had reached the villages and just knowing that people were coming to them seemed to make all the difference. I was so pleased to see the relief on people’s faces after days of wondering if help would ever come."
ShelterBox has been distributing aid in Nepal, including providing tents to hospitals in Kathmandu that had been badly damaged by the quake and to temporary medical facilities in Sindhupalchok.
A further consignment of aid, including tents and shelter kits, has arrived in the country and will be distributed to families in the district of Sindhupalchok this week.
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The scale of destruction across the Himalayan country of Nepal since Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake is immense.
· Since then, several aftershocks have taken place, ranging from 5 to 6.7 in magnitude.
· More than 7,500 people are reported to have been killed and at least 15,000 people have also been injured, although these figures are likely to rise.
· Hospitals are being overwhelmed as more patients arrive and supplies run low.
· 8.1 million people are reported to be in need of humanitarian assistance.
· Nepal’s prime minister Sushil Koirala said his government was doing all it could, but was overwhelmed.
· With hundreds of thousands of people sleeping outdoors in makeshift shelters, thunderstorms forecast, mountain snows melting, and the monsoon season due, the growing risk of landslides and flash flooding will add to the challenges for rescue and relief teams.
Currently, there are 12 ShelterBox Response Team members working in Nepal.
· The first chartered flight of aid arrived into Nepal late last night.
· We have confirmation that this aid has been granted release from customs and tomorrow will travel via truck from the airport in Kathmandu to the outlying region of Sindhupalchowk. This journey would normally take around three hours but may take significantly longer now due to severe road damage.