The catastrophic floods that destroyed communities in northern Nepal could be repeated elsewhere in the Himalayas as climate change increases risks across the region, according to the United Nations Office for Project Services.
The warning follows flash floods and landslides triggered by a glacier collapse in late August. More than 1,200 people were killed, while entire settlements were swept away, with houses carried as far as 150 metres from where they had stood.
UNOPS regional director Sara Netzer described one community of roughly 400 homes and 1,200 residents where the destruction was almost total, with debris between five and eight metres deep in some areas.
Of approximately 40 bridges in the affected area, only one remains standing, leaving communities isolated and forcing the World Food Programme to use helicopters to deliver lifesaving assistance to some locations.
UNOPS has mobilised funding for urgent engineering assessments and bridge safety analysis, warning that the scale of destruction carries implications beyond Nepal as climate change increases risks across the Himalayan region.