Nepali photographer battles emotional toll while documenting flood devastation
A Nepali photographer is documenting the emotional and physical toll of catastrophic flash flooding in the Nuwakot region. The project has become deeply personal for the photographer, who is searching for missing friends among the victims.
Why it matters
This report highlights the human impact of climate-related disasters and the psychological burden faced by local journalists covering humanitarian crises.
Link copied Share Share article Desperate families crowd around a small army centre in Nuwakot, Nepal, tracing their fingers through hundreds of names taped up on a wall, hoping to find their loved ones listed as survivors.
Nepali photographer and documentary filmmaker Rasik Maharjan was there to film it, witnessing their "hands trembling" as they scoured the lists waiting for good news.
Rasik told the ABC that people have been waiting by the helipads day and night for the army and rescue teams to arrive.
"Every time a helicopter approaches, everyone looks up. There is a quiet hope that the next person coming through the door might be someone they have been waiting for," he said.
Names and photos of the missing are pasted on public buildings in disaster zones. (Supplied: Rasik Maharjan)
Family members of the missing have been desperately checking lists of survivors. (Supplied: Rasik Maharjan)
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