KATHMANDU, April 1: Twenty-seven people have been killed and more than 500 injured after a wind storm hit Bara and Parsa districts yesterday night. The wind storm hit hard at Pheta Rural Municipality of Bara district. “Around 80% of homes have been destroyed in Ward 6,” Zakhir Hussain, ward chairperson of the rural municipality said.
Here’s what has happened so far:
Bara, Parsa was probably hit by the first wind storm of the country: DHM
A 30-knot wind storm known as gale, probably the first in Nepal, hit Bara and Parsa districts killing 28 and injuring over 500 people, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. At 30 knots, gale, a classification of wind speed according to the Beaufort scale, blows at 15 meters per second or 55.56 kilometre per hour.
According to the BBC Weather Forecast, the similar weather pattern is likely to reoccur on the lower and Eastern belt until tomorrow evening – a weather pattern that Nepal’s DHM has verified.
“A similar storm could reoccur but we cannot pinpoint at the location,” Mean Kumar Aryal, a meteorologist said adding that much would depend on atmospheric pressure and heat. He added that the pre-monsoon would continue to bring wind, thunderstorm and rainfall in different parts of the country.
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Six injured in Bara storm airlifted to Kathmandu
Six persons who were seriously injured in the massive storm in Bara district were airlifted to Kathmandu on a Nepal Army sky truck for further treatment. Spokesperson of the Nepal Army Yam Prasad Dhakal told Republica Online that the injured were airlifted to the capital. "Of them four were elderly and two were children," he said.
The injured have been undergoing treatment at TU Teaching Hospital.
Dhakal said that as many as 400 army personnel including medical teams have been mobilized to carry out rescue operations in Bara.
A special medical team of Nepal Army is flying to Pheta area of Bara to treat the injured people, Dhakal said.
The Nepal Army team has been mobilized to clear the roadblocks and damaged infrastructures in the district, he added.
25 killed in Bara, Parsa storm identified
Twenty-five among those killed when a massive storm struck several villages of Bara and Parsa districts on Sunday evening have been identified. Of the deceased in Bara, 10 were women, 11 men and five children. One man was killed in Parsa.
PM Oli visits storm-hit Bara, Parsa districts
The ruling Nepal Communist Party parliamentarians will donate their day's salary to raise funds for the storm-affected families in Bara and Parsa, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Monday. The prime minister said so during his visit to storm-hit Bara and Parsa districts today afternoon. Oli said that the government would leave no stone unturned to carry out rescue and relief efforts.
Prez Bhandari condoles wind storm victims
President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in a wind storm that so far has killed 28 people in Bara and Parsa district. Of those deceased, 12 have been identified as men and five are children.
Province 2 government to provide Rs 300,000 each family
An emergency meeting of the Province 2 government has decided to provide Rs 300,000 to the families of those killed in the massive storm that struck several villages in Bara and Parsa district. The provincial government has also appealed for a disaster relief fund under the chief minister's office. Individuals can support the disaster by donating at:
Rastriya Banijya Bank
Account Number: 1220-503-000-000
Account: Miscellaneous (Province No. 2 Financial Comptroller Office)
Govt to bear treatment costs, rebuild homes
The Nepal government will bear treatment cost and rebuild infrastructure that was destroyed by the wind storm yesterday night, according to Prem Kumar Rai, secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rai said so as he met with the victims of the windstorm in Bara district. So far, 28 people have been killed.
