Fires, floods, and lightning continue to cause damage across Nepal despite heavy rainfall

You might think fires don’t happen during the rainy season, but that’s not true. Even though it’s raining across the country, Nepal has still seen many fire incidents recently, causing loss of lives and property.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), heavy rainfall from the active monsoon hasn’t stopped fire-related disasters. Just between 10 a.m. on Shrawan 3 and 10 a.m. on Shrawan 4, six fire incidents were reported. These fires killed six people, injured one, and affected 40 families.

Since the start of Baisakh until Shrawan 4, there have been 969 fire incidents across Nepal. These have led to 14 deaths, 140 injuries, and directly affected 1,079 families.

In the same period:

• There have been 158 wildfires, injuring 2 people and affecting 27 households.
• Strong winds hit 273 times, killing 8 people, injuring 39, and affecting 531 families.
• Snakebites were reported 63 times, resulting in 5 deaths and 64 injuries. 70 families were affected.
• Floods occurred 137 times, killing 13 people, leaving 20 missing, and affecting 1,246 families.
• Landslides happened 183 times, killing 7 people, injuring 9, and affecting 199 families.
• Lightning struck 224 times, causing 28 deaths and 160 injuries, with 260 families affected.
• Altitude sickness claimed 11 lives, and 12 people died from animal attacks.

The data shows that the monsoon season brings not only floods and landslides but also other disasters like fire, lightning, and animal attacks, all of which continue to affect people across Nepal.