Rebuilding Nepal by Hand

The Atlantic PHOTO
Emily Anne Epstein
May 1, 2016 - 31 Photos 

The photographer Renaud Philippe returned to the epicenter of last year’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake to document what progress has been made in some of the hardest-to-reach villages. Before April 25, 2015, Barpak was a picturesque Nepali village nestled some 6,000 feet above sea level. After, less than 20 of the 1,400 houses remained. “Many things changed since last year, but there is so much to do,” Philippe said. Because it is so difficult to reach, people in Barpak and nearby Laprak have no machinery and limited electricity to help rebuild their homes; all construction must be done by hand. “Everyone is hopeless about getting any government help,” Philippe said. “They can only count on themselves.” Philippe has shared a selection of his images from both 2015 and 2016 with The Atlantic. The first 15 images below are from the first few weeks after the quake and the second 15 were taken in April of this year.

Shocking aerial photographs show devastation caused by historic Mississippi flooding that has killed at least 20 - and officials warn there are more deaths to come

• Dozens of towns and villages lay abandoned after another day of historic flooding in Missouri and Illinois 
• Floodwater swamped entire settlements and forced widespread evacuations in disaster that has killed at least 20
• Five foreign soldiers training in US were killed when their car was swept off a rural road and into rampaging water 
• Crisis could rival 1993 when one of 'most damaging natural disasters to ever hit US' killed 50 and left $15bn damage
• Swollen rivers and streams were pushed to almost unheard of heights and up to 17million people are under threat

By OLLIE GILLMAN and ASHLEY COLLMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 03:12 GMT, 31 December 2015 | UPDATED: 10:57 GMT, 31 December 2015

Monsoon leaves thousands stranded and 27 dead in Myanmar flooding - and the toll is expected to rise

• Moonsonal winds, flooding, and resulting landslides have killed at least 27 people in Myanmar
• The toll is expected to rise as rescue teams reach hard to access areas affected by the floods
• At least 156,000 people are known to have been affected, and 150,000 homes have been destroyed
• Much farmland has also been destroyed 

By RACHEL EDDIE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 14:56 GMT, 2 August 2015 | UPDATED: 15:06 GMT, 2 August 2015

Quảng Ninh cứu đập 790, ngăn thảm họa lũ bùn xỉ than

VNEXPRESS
Thứ sáu, 31/7/2015 | 15:57 GMT+7

Mưa lớn làm đập chắn 790 bị vỡ và tiếp tục có nguy cơ toác rộng. Trước thảm họa xỉ thải than tràn xuống vùi lấp nhiều tổ dân phố phường Mông Dương (TP Cẩm Phả), làm tê liệt hệ thống điện, Quảng Ninh đã huy động nhiều lực lượng nỗ lực khắc phục.

Người dân vùng lũ: 'Tài sản duy nhất sót lại là manh áo trên người'

The stunning snaps of nature at its wildest: Veteran storm chaser hits jackpot by capturing FOURTEEN tornadoes in just one hour

• Brian Morganti's latest series features magnificent images of tornadoes tearing across Colorado's plains
• He said it was one of the most prolific days he has ever experienced in his 19 years as a tornado chaser 
• In one scene a tornado passes perilously close to a farm, with the dark skies clashing with the green grass

By CHRIS KITCHING FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 12:10 GMT, 23 July 2015 | UPDATED: 20:49 GMT, 23 July 2015

Nepal earthquake: Homeless urgently need tents; death toll above 5,500

By Manesh Shrestha, Jethro Mullen and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

Updated 0455 GMT (1155 HKT) April 30, 2015

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)-Half a million tents are urgently needed for the huge number of people forced from their homes by Nepal's devastating earthquake, a government minister said Wednesday.

Remembering the horror: Survivors and victims' families hold beachside memorial services to mark 10th anniversary of Boxing Day tsunami that killed 270,000

• The devastating December 26 2004 tsunami struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim
• It eradicated entire coastal communities, decimated families and crashed over tourist-filled beaches
• Beachside memorials and religious services were held across Asia to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy
• Survivors, politicians and families of victims gathered in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere
• 'We tearfully saw thousands of corpses, no words can describe our feelings at that time' - Indonesia's vice president
• The tsunami killed over a quarter of a million people - including 151 Britons and thousands of Germans and Swedes

By Ted Thornhill for MailOnline and Press Association

Published: 08:17 GMT, 26 December 2014 | Updated: 20:16 GMT, 26 December 2014

More bodies found on Mount Ontake with the death toll from the eruption at the deadly Japanese volcano now standing at 48

Mail Online

• Nagano police said the death toll from Saturday's surprise eruption at Mount Ontake now stands at 48 
  
• It comes after the search for victims of the volcano was called off for a second day amid fears of another explosion
• Hundreds of rescuers from Japanese military had been preparing to scale Mount Ontake by foot and helicopter
• Scientists believe tremors suggest peak could spew out more rock or could even host another steam explosion
• Ash and stones continue to rain down days after Mount Ontake erupted without warning, killing dozens 

By John Hall and Richard Shears for MailOnline

Published: 03:31 GMT, 1 October 2014 | Updated: 11:26 GMT, 1 October 2014

36 now feared dead in Japanese volcano disaster

Mail Online

• Mount Ontake started erupting at lunchtime on Friday spewing out small rock and ash over a two-mile wide area
• Police confirm at least 36 hikers have been located in a state of 'cardiac arrest' and are feared dead
• They are Japan's first deaths from volcanic eruption since 1991, when 43 people died at Mount Unzen
• Rescue efforts with army helicopters were used to airlift survivors from the mountain side
• The volcano is 230km west of Tokyo but has not yet caused any disruption to flights in and out of the city
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed the military to rescue the hikers from the area
• Rescue efforts have now been called off due to rising levels of toxic gas near summit and approaching nightfall 

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline and Corey Charlton for MailOnline

Published: 09:30 GMT, 28 September 2014 | Updated: 15:51 GMT, 29 September 2014

How a Storm Gave Birth to Twin Tornadoes in Pilger, Nebraska

NBC NEWS/ Science 

By Alan Boyle

Aerial photos show path of destruction in the wake of two terrifying tornadoes that ravaged a small Nebraska town, killing a five-year-old girl as she was trying to seek shelter

 

Update

• Witnesses in Pilger, Nebraska said Monday evening that the prairie village of around 370 residents had been nearly wiped off the face of the earth
• Twin tornadoes measured to have had the fearsome EF-4 rating struck the so-called 'Town Too Tuff To Die' starting Monday afternoon
• Calista Dixon, 5, and 74-year-old David Herout identified as the two fatalities in the disaster
• Twisters moving at 200mph destroyed or heavily damaged 75 per cent of all buildings in town

By Snejana Farberov and Josh Gardner

Published: 00:01 GMT, 18 June 2014 | Updated: 02:01 GMT, 18 June 2014 

'It was like God dragged two fingernails across the land': Terrifying 200MPH tornado cluster levels Nebraska town killing two, including one child, and leaving sixteen people critical

• Witnesses in Pilger, Nebraska said Monday evening that the prairie village of around 370 residents had been nearly wiped off the face of the earth
• Twin tornadoes measured to have had the fearsome EF-4 rating struck the so-called 'Town Too Tuff To Die' starting Monday afternoon
• Two casualties and 16 critical injuries were reported as afternoon turned to evening Monday. At least one of the victims was a child, though he or she was not ID'd by authorities by late Monday

By Joshua Gardner

Published: 22:14 GMT, 16 June 2014 | Updated: 10:56 GMT, 17 June 2014

After Mountain’s Collapse, Uncertainty and Loss

U.S.

By KIRK JOHNSONMARCH 26, 2014

A rescue worker walked through mud from the giant landslide near Oso, Wash., on Wednesday as efforts to find victims continued. The community was braced for the toll to climb.

Death toll in Washington mudslide rises to 24 with dozens still missing

Death toll in Washington mudslide rises to 24 with dozens still missing: Hope fades as rescuers recover two more bodies and believe they have located eight others 'underground'

By James Nye

PUBLISHED: 02:40 GMT, 26 March 2014 | UPDATED: 16:17 GMT, 26 March 2014