Nepalese residents in the UAE are anxiously waiting for updates from loved ones as severe floods and landslides affect communities back home.
Dubai: Nepalese residents across the UAE are anxiously contacting relatives, following news reports and waiting for updates as devastating Nepal floods and landslides leave communities cut off and families displaced.
For some expatriates, poor internet connections have made an already frightening situation worse. Others have seen relatives evacuated or forced to change travel plans as flooding damages roads and disrupts movement across affected areas.
Dubai resident Poornima spent Wednesday night unable to sleep after her family, including her brother, children and grandchildren, was evacuated from their hometown in Chitwan.
“Luckily, my family got enough time to evacuate,” she told Khaleej Times.
Her brother has been helping with relief operations, but damaged communications have made it difficult for the family to remain in contact.
“The internet connection is really bad because of the extensive damage, so I wasn’t able to speak to him for more than a few minutes. I am just praying for the safety of my country and my people right now,” she said.
‘Nothing we have ever seen before’
Poornima said she has been closely following reports and videos emerging on social media.
While parts of Nepal have experienced flooding before, she said the scale of the latest destruction had shocked her.
“The area has been flood-prone for several years, and there was some indication that there would be flooding,” she said. “But the scale of the flooding was nothing we have ever seen before.”
Videos and images circulating from affected areas have shown buildings, bridges and other infrastructure overwhelmed by powerful floodwaters and debris.
Poornima believes it could take weeks before the full extent of the damage becomes clear.
Flash floods and landslides struck areas of Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, sending torrents of water, mud and debris downstream. Communities along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems were among those affected.
Rescue operations have continued as authorities search for missing people and assess damage across areas where roads, communications and other infrastructure have been disrupted.
The precise cause of the disaster remains under investigation, with initial reports pointing to a possible glacier-related collapse.
Nepalese community in UAE left in shock.
Dubai resident Lakshmi Thapa said she has remained in frequent contact with family members who know people living in affected areas.
“My daughter’s friends are from the area, and they have all evacuated,” she said.
She described the situation facing some families as heartbreaking, particularly for elderly residents who may struggle to evacuate quickly during an emergency.
The disaster has also brought Nepalese residents in the UAE closer together as they check on relatives and friends.
“All of us are calling and checking on each other,” Thapa said. “It is truly so shocking and saddening.”
UAE expats watch events unfold from afar
For Humkala Neupane, who has lived in the UAE for three years, seeing images of the destruction was particularly unsettling.
Her home in Kapil Vast, Chandrota, is several hours from the affected region, while relatives living farther from the disaster zone were safe.
“I was shocked to see the videos on social media,” she said. “Thankfully, my relatives, who live a little farther away from the affected area, were not impacted.”
Neupane said she had witnessed smaller natural disasters in Nepal before but nothing comparable to the scenes emerging from the latest floods.
“I have witnessed smaller incidents before, but I have never seen anything of this scale in my country,” she said.
Floods disrupt travel plans
The disaster is also affecting travel between Nepal and the UAE.
Sharjah resident Kalpana Khati said her husband, who travelled to Nepal on August 20 for documentation work, has been forced to change his return journey after flooding disrupted road connections towards Kathmandu.
He had planned to travel from Tulsipur to Kathmandu before flying back to the UAE on August 28.
Instead, blocked roads forced him to abandon that route and travel by road towards Delhi, where he planned to catch a flight to Dubai on August 29.
“When I learnt that the roads were blocked and my husband could not travel to Kathmandu as planned, I became worried,” Khati said.
The journey from Tulsipur to Kathmandu covers more than 400km by road. Under normal conditions, she said, it would take around seven hours.
Now, her husband has had to find an entirely different route home.
For thousands of Nepalese living in the UAE, the Nepal floods are unfolding at a painful distance. With communications disrupted and the situation continuing to evolve, many are relying on brief calls, news reports and messages from relatives as they wait to learn the full impact on their families and communities.
Source: KT
