Nepal Emergency Response: IMR Stands with The Bhote Koshi – Rasuwa Flood Victims
IMR staff and trekking guides have been directly impacted by the devastating glacier collapse on the Bhote Koshi River and the resulting Rasuwa flood. In a matter of seconds, communities were devastated. Families have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods. Thousands have been displaced, and the urgent need for clean water, food, shelter, emergency supplies, and medical care is overwhelming.
For International Medical Relief, this disaster has also become deeply personal.
Dawa Sherpa & Nima Tamang — Safe
We are incredibly grateful to share that our IMR trekking guides Dawa Sherpa and Nima Tamang have been confirmed safe.
Lopsang Sherpa, Bal Kumar Tamang & Ang Chering Sherpa — Still Missing
Lopsang, Bal, and Ang remain missing.
Their families are waiting. We are waiting with them. Search efforts continue, and we are holding onto hope and praying for their safe return.
These men are so much more than our trekking guides.
They have walked beside our teams through the mountains of Nepal. They have protected our volunteers, carried our supplies, opened their communities to us, and helped IMR reach patients in some of the most remote places in the world.
They have stood with us. Now IMR is standing with them.
The Scale of the Disaster
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
The catastrophic flood that swept through Nepal’s Bhote Koshi–Trishuli River corridor on August 26 has devastated mountain communities across Rasuwa, Nuwakot and surrounding districts.
More than a week after the disaster, search-and-rescue operations remain underway while thousands of families face profound loss, displacement and uncertainty. Entire communities have been destroyed or isolated, roads and bridges have been washed away, and access to some of Nepal’s most remote mountain areas remains extremely difficult.
The disaster has now claimed more than 1,200 lives in Nepal, while thousands of people remain missing. Approximately 20,000 homes have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, and thousands of displaced residents are living in temporary relief shelters.
The humanitarian emergency is also entering a critical new phase.
Thousands of children and families remain without reliable access to safe drinking water and sanitation, increasing concerns about infectious disease and other preventable illnesses. Damaged transportation routes are making it difficult for families to reach hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, while emergency medical resources are being concentrated in the areas of greatest immediate need.
The emergency is no longer only about rescue. It is increasingly about protecting the health of communities throughout the region.
Nepal’s Healthcare System Is Under Growing Pressure
As Nepal’s government deploys healthcare workers, emergency personnel and medical resources into the communities hardest hit by the disaster, healthcare capacity in surrounding areas is becoming increasingly strained.
During a major disaster, local medical professionals and government resources must understandably be redirected to ground-zero communities.
But the communities those providers normally serve do not stop needing medical care.
Patients still require treatment for diabetes, hypertension, respiratory illness and other chronic diseases. Pregnant women still need maternal healthcare. Children still become sick. Injuries still occur. Families still need access to medications.
At the same time, damaged roads and bridges have dramatically increased travel times across the region. Journeys that were already challenging before the disaster may now take many additional hours, and some mountain communities remain extremely difficult to reach.
Displacement and the loss of safe water, hygiene and sanitation create additional health risks. Without intervention, conditions such as gastrointestinal illness, respiratory infections, wound infections, dehydration and other communicable diseases can increase rapidly following a disaster.
Supporting the Communities Beyond Ground Zero
This is an important role for international medical response.
International Medical Relief works alongside local healthcare systems to add capacity when local resources are stretched beyond their normal limits.
By bringing qualified medical volunteers, medicines, medical supplies, equipment and community health education into Nepal, IMR can help maintain access to healthcare while Nepal’s own healthcare professionals respond to the most severely affected communities.
The goal is not to replace Nepal’s healthcare system.
The goal is to strengthen it.
More Than a Decade Standing With Nepal
International Medical Relief’s relationship with Nepal did not begin with this disaster.
It began in the aftermath of the devastating 2015 Gorkha earthquake, when hospitals were overwhelmed, roads were blocked by landslides, and many remote mountain communities were left with little or no access to medical care.
IMR responded with five emergency medical deployments in 2015 alone, sending medical teams, medicines, supplies and emergency resources into affected communities.
Our work did not end when the immediate emergency passed.
In the years that followed, IMR continued returning to Nepal and the Himalayan region to provide medical care, health education, medications, medical supplies and support for communities where geography, poverty and limited healthcare infrastructure make routine access to care difficult.
IMR’s Nepal & Himalayan Impact Since 2015
26 Medical & Disaster Response Deployments
650+ Medical Volunteers and Staff
Nearly 14,000 Patients Served
More Than $21 Million in Medical Care, Supplies, Equipment and Community Benefit
From emergency disaster response to long-term community healthcare, IMR has stood beside the people of Nepal for more than a decade.
That history matters today.
IMR already understands the challenges of delivering healthcare across Nepal’s mountainous terrain. We understand that recovery does not end when search-and-rescue operations conclude. And we understand that the medical consequences of a disaster can continue for months—or years—after the world’s attention moves elsewhere.
First In. Last Out.
IMR approaches disasters with a long-term commitment.
Our Disaster Area Response Teams assess immediate needs. Our medical teams and partners help respond as those needs evolve. And our ongoing medical missions continue supporting communities through recovery and beyond.
We are First In—Last Out.
IMR Is Responding
IMR is responding to this disaster as part of the International Disaster Response Network (IDRN). Through our partnerships on the ground and responders trained through IDRN, we are receiving urgent requests for assistance.
IMR is mobilizing medical and disaster-response through critical resources, and emergency funding to help our guides, their families, and communities affected by this disaster. Long-term, we continue to mobilize volunteers who serve on IMR’s annual medical missions.
We are raising emergency funds for food, clean water, shelter, medical care, essential supplies, support for displaced families, and direct assistance to our affected guides and their families.
Several of these families have very young children. We are committed not only to helping them through the uncertainty of today, but to standing beside them for whatever comes next.
Please Help Us Stand With Nepal
The people of Nepal have welcomed our teams, protected our volunteers and walked beside us through some of the most remote communities in the Himalayas.
Now it is our turn to walk beside them.
Your support helps International Medical Relief respond with medical care, medicines, supplies, clean water and hygiene resources, while also helping sustain healthcare access as Nepal’s local medical resources are stretched by the disaster.
IMR is standing with Nepal—today, throughout recovery, and for the long term.
How You Can Help
Donate to Nepal Relief: Every gift helps support medical care, medicines, emergency supplies, clean water, hygiene needs and assistance for families and communities affected by the disaster.
→ Give to the Nepal Flood Relief Fund
Serve on a Medical Mission: IMR continues to mobilize medical and non-medical volunteers for Nepal and Himalayan missions. Upcoming deployments provide an opportunity to support long-term healthcare access and recovery in communities IMR has served for more than a decade.
Share the Response: Help keep Nepal in the world’s attention. Share this response with your family, colleagues and community. Recovery will continue long after the immediate emergency leaves the headlines.
Ready to Stand With Communities in Crisis?
Disasters like this one don’t wait — and neither do we. Explore IMR’s disaster relief and emergency response efforts to learn how our volunteers and partners mobilize when crisis strikes, and find out how you can be part of the response.
Serve with purpose. Be the good.
→ Learn more about IMR Disaster Relief & Emergency Response
Frequently Asked Questions
International Medical Relief has established a designated Nepal Flood Relief Fund, with 100 percent of designated donations directed to Nepal flood-response activities and support for people and families affected by the disaster.
IMR is supporting its International Disaster Response Network partners as relief reaches flood-affected communities in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and surrounding areas.
IMR’s Disaster Area Response Team has personnel on the ground assessing conditions and identifying evolving healthcare and humanitarian needs. IMR is also coordinating medicines, medical supplies, hygiene resources and future deployments of medical teams from the United States as conditions and needs on the ground require.
Access can become one of the greatest barriers to survival and recovery after a disaster.
Rasuwa and the surrounding Himalayan districts contain steep mountain terrain where reaching healthcare can already require hours of travel. Flooding and landslides have damaged roads and bridges, turning difficult journeys into much longer trips and leaving some communities temporarily inaccessible by road.
When patients cannot reach clinics, hospitals or pharmacies, treatable conditions can quickly become serious. International medical support can help bring care closer to those communities while Nepal works to restore transportation routes, healthcare access and normal services.
During major disasters, governments appropriately redirect healthcare workers, emergency personnel, medicines, vehicles and other resources to the areas with the most immediate life-threatening needs.
However, the communities those professionals normally serve continue to need healthcare.
Primary care, maternal health, pediatric care, chronic-disease management and access to medications cannot simply stop during an emergency.
IMR can help offset that temporary loss of capacity by bringing additional medical volunteers, medications, supplies and equipment into communities where healthcare resources have become strained.
Medical needs following a disaster change over time. During the first phase, priorities may include trauma care, wound care, emergency surgery, stabilization and search-and-rescue support.
As the response progresses, healthcare needs often shift toward safe water and sanitation, prevention and treatment of infectious disease, wound and skin infections, respiratory illness, replacement of lost medications, chronic-disease management, maternal and women’s health, pediatric care, nutrition, mental-health support and community health education.
These needs can become particularly serious in mountain communities cut off by damaged roads and transportation routes.
IMR continues assessing conditions so medical teams, medications and supplies can be matched to the needs identified by communities and healthcare partners on the ground.
International Medical Relief has supported communities in Nepal and the Himalayan region since the devastating 2015 Gorkha earthquake.
Following that earthquake, IMR deployed five emergency medical teams in 2015 and continued returning to Nepal in the years that followed to provide medical care, health education, medications, medical supplies and support for hard-to-reach mountain communities.
Since 2015, IMR has completed 26 deployments to Nepal and the Himalayan region, mobilized more than 650 medical volunteers and staff, served nearly 14,000 patients, and provided more than $21 million in medical care, supplies, equipment, clinic operations and community benefit.
That long-term presence matters during an emergency. Our teams understand the challenges of delivering healthcare across Nepal’s mountainous terrain and the importance of working alongside local providers, communities and partners throughout both immediate response and long-term recovery.
International Medical Relief’s first responsibility is to understand what communities actually need.
Our Disaster Area Response Teams assess conditions, healthcare gaps, accessibility, security, logistics and available local resources. Those assessments help determine when and where international medical volunteers can provide meaningful assistance.
As needs evolve, IMR can mobilize physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, EMTs and paramedics, pharmacists, dental professionals, public-health professionals, students and other qualified volunteers.
Medical needs in a disaster can change every day, so volunteers should be prepared to serve where their skills can best strengthen local healthcare capacity.
IMR is planning Nepal and Himalayan medical deployments in 2026 and 2027, and interested volunteers can complete an application through the IMR medical mission portal.
There are three important ways to help.
Donate. International Medical Relief has established a designated Nepal Flood Relief Fund. One hundred percent of donations designated to this fund are restricted to Nepal relief activities, including support related to medical care, medicines, supplies, hygiene needs and assistance for families directly affected by the disaster.
Volunteer. Medical and non-medical volunteers can complete an IMR application and express interest in upcoming Nepal and Himalayan deployments.
Share. Help keep attention focused on the families and communities affected by this disaster. Recovery will continue long after the initial emergency disappears from the headlines.
Answer:
Yes. International Medical Relief’s work in Nepal began more than a decade ago and will continue long after this disaster.
We believe responsible disaster response requires more than arriving during the emergency. It means supporting communities through recovery and continuing to strengthen access to healthcare after the immediate crisis has passed.
IMR’s ongoing Nepal and Himalayan medical missions allow our teams to return to communities, support local healthcare providers, deliver needed medicines and supplies, and help address health needs that continue long after search-and-rescue operations end.
First In—Last Out.
