Nepal flood survivors take shelter at monastery turned makeshift evacuation centre

By North Asia Correspondent Natalie Whiting and Krishna Dhungana in Kathmandu

Bhujung Tamang was airlifted with his wife and two daughters two days ago from what is left of his village near the Nepal-Tibet border.

He remembers being in the kitchen before the disaster struck and hearing a huge boom.

"If we had waited 10 minutes longer before running, then we would have been swept away."

He thinks three quarters of the population of his village, Timure, were killed; saying his neighbours were “buried” in mud and landslides.

"We stayed there one night without food, then the next day a helicopter came and rescued everyone who was alive."

While grateful to be alive, Mr Tamang didn’t even have shoes when he ran, and he found himself in the capital Kathmandu without money or a room to stay in.

And so, his family made its way to the Gosok Phuntsok Choeling monastery. Usually a home to monks, it has opened its doors to those who have fled the disaster.

“Now I’ve come to the monastery, if they give some food, I can eat, otherwise I don’t have any other option.”

Almost 3000 people are still missing after the flash floods the tore through Nepal and part of Tibet, triggered when part of a Himalayan glacier broke off and crashed into the river below.

When the ABC visited the monastery, there were almost 200 people being cared for in the makeshift evacuation centre, run by volunteers who were largely young people from the disaster-affected area.

Armed with a clipboard, Alina Lama guides new arrivals to a small table where the names are recorded, while directing donations and speaking with other volunteers. She usually works as a trekking guide in the Himalayas.

Behind the ornate gates of the monastery, mattresses have been spread out in a large open room. A group of children are drawing on donated paper and pencils, while a group of older women sit on chairs nearby consoling one another.

Ms Lama is from the Rasuwa district, the hardest hit area, and she has family members missing, including her father’s whole extended family.