Desperate need for shelter, food a week after Nepal quake

Aid workers facing huge logistical challenges getting to remote areas

KATHMANDU, Nep al — Nearly a week after a massive earthquake killed more than 6,200 people and collapsed buildings, temples and homes, Nepal still urgently needs basic aid like shelter and food, while remote villages remain cut off from help.

Aid workers still face “immense logistical challenges,” UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said Friday, noting that the scale of the devastation in Nepal would be an obstacle for any government.

The UN has estimated the magnitude-7.8 quake that struck April 25 affected 8.1 million people — more than a fourth of Nepal’s population of 27.8 million.

In Kathmandu, rescue workers continued to search through collapsed buildings, but fewer tents were standing in a central part of the capital that had been packed with people in the first few days. Some residents who had been fearful of aftershocks have left the city or moved elsewhere.

More than 130,000 houses were destroyed in the quake, according to the UN humanitarian office. Near the epicentre, north of Kathmandu, whole villages were in ruins, and residents were in desperate need of temporary shelters against the rain and cold.

Isolated hamlets are still cut off because scarce helicopters can’t land in some mountainous areas, and roads have often been destroyed, said Amos.

“Of course we are worried that it is taking so long to get to people who desperately need aid. Some of those villages are virtually flattened. But it’s very, very hard to see how we’re going to get to them,” she said.

Tents and tarpaulins are the most urgent need, but there’s also a demand for water, food, health care and better sanitation. Debris must be removed, bodies recovered, and officials need to determine which buildings are too dangerous to enter, Amos said.

In the past 48 hours, the UN Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, has delivered nearly 30 tonnes of supplies, including tents, water purification tablets and first aid and hygiene kits.

Nepal Information Minister Minedra Risal said 400,000 tents are needed immediately, but that the country has only been able to provide 29,000 thus far.

In addition to tents and tarpaulins, the government appealed to international donors to send foodstuffs like grain, salt and sugar.

It also asked donors to give money for relief efforts if they cannot send goods that are immediately needed in the impoverished Himalayan nation.