The dire projections come from the state’s Climate Change Assessment, which analyzes the impacts of changing weather patterns on the nation’s most-populous state.
The report finds that without major intervention, as much as three-quarters of California’s beaches could disappear — either seasonally or permanently — by 2100 because of coastal erosion.
Nepal’s government reported that the August 26 flood destroyed 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, with damages and losses exceeding $2.7 billion, as Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle sought international funding to rebuild.
Nepal’s government said that the August 26 flood, dubbed the “Himalayan tsunami,”caused physical damage worth $1.8 billion and additional economic losses of more than $900 million, equivalent to about 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as it seeks international financing for reconstruction.
Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle presented the estimates on Thursday at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Bangkok, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Wagle is seeking international funding for rebuilding and for measures to “avoid or mitigate the impact of future disasters.”
Nearly seven weeks passed between the disaster and Thursday’s accounting. The flood struck on August 26, and the assessment Wagle presented in Bangkok represents the government’s formal reckoning of the economic damage it must now confront.The floods left more than 1,500 people dead and 6,000 missing, causing severe destruction of essential infrastructure, hydropower projects, farmland, fish ponds, food stocks and agricultural infrastructure across the country.
Flash floods along Nepal’s Budhi Gandaki River swept away homes and bridges, forcing residents to flee to higher ground.
Wagle said Nepal does not intend merely to “replace what was destroyed, but to build better,” with more resilient infrastructure. He said that approach will raise the cost of reconstruction to $5 billion.
The Minister also said Nepal, which he described as “the poorest country in Asia after Afghanistan,” has contributed very little to global warming because of its limited industrialization and low emissions, but “is bearing the worst consequences of climate change.”
Wagle appealed to the “ethical and moral responsibility of countries with greater resources” to support the most vulnerable and called for a model of “global solidarity and cooperation.” “It is not about blaming rich countries, but about making a joint call to action,” he said.
Gorkha, #Nepal Damaged houses lie partially submerged in sludge along the banks of the Budhi Gandaki River after a flash #flood caused by a #landslide. Four bridges and dozens of houses were swept away, as well as a construction camp for a hydropower project pic.twitter.com/vui6RyJocr
The disaster originated high in the Himalayas. A glacial and rocky mass covering two square kilometers broke away from Langtang Lirung mountain at an altitude of 5,200 meters. The ensuing flood also swept into the Chinese region of Tibet.
The scale of the threat extends beyond a single event. A recent study in Scientific Reports warns that roughly 300,000 people in Nepal live in river channels susceptible to flooding. Construction in those vulnerable zones grew by almost 50 percent between 2016 and 2023, a pattern that multiplies the risk to communities as extreme weather becomes more frequent.
Nepal’s appeal arrives as climate-linked disasters mount across South Asia, a region where economies least responsible for global emissions face some of the steepest recovery costs. For a country that contributes a negligible share of greenhouse gases, the $5 billion reconstruction bill amounts to a burden imposed largely by forces beyond its control.
More than 100 families were evacuated from low-lying neighborhoods in Paraguay as the Parana River swelled rapidly, forcing military and emergency teams into action across the Alto Paraná and Misiones departments.
Intense rainfall across the Southern Cone and the fast-rising Parana River pushed Paraguayan authorities to launch emergency evacuation and relocation operations for affected families.
The effort has focused on riverside communities that stand directly in the path of a waterway now running far above its normal level.
Relief organizations and Armed Forces personnel intensified preventive work as rivers and streams rose at a dizzying pace. The sharp increase in water flow has placed vulnerable families settled in riverside zones at immediate risk, leaving little time between the first warning and the moment floodwater reaches their homes.
In Alto Paraná, the most critical impact is in the San Rafael neighborhood of Ciudad del Este, where dozens of homes were flooded. Officials of the Logistics Command said rising waters forced the immediate relocation of more than 100 families living in the lowest-lying areas.
Preventive eviction protocols were also activated for about 60 additional families, given technical projections of further rises in the river level. The distinction between the two groups reflects the staged nature of the operation. Families already surrounded by water were moved first, while those in areas projected to flood next were placed under preventive orders.
INTENSAS LLUVIAS PROVOCAN CRECIDA DE RÍO Y OBLIGAN A EVACUAR FAMILIAS EN PARAGUAY
Las intensas lluvias que provocaron la crecida del río Paraná mantienen en alerta a las autoridades de Paraguay, donde se realizan evacuaciones y se ha desplegado personal militar para atender a… pic.twitter.com/9b3LnXxIWd
Text reads: “Heavy rains cause the river to flood and force families to evacuate in Paraguay. The heavy rains that caused the flood of the Parana River keep the authorities in Paraguay on alert, where evacuations are being carried out and military personnel have been deployed to assist affected families in the south of Ciudad del Este. At least 100 homes have been affected by the floods, especially in vulnerable areas…”
The effects spread to other parts of the country. In the city of Ayolas, in Misiones department, the Emergency Operations Center, naval units and fire brigades coordinated the relocation of residents to sports centers converted into temporary shelters.
In San Juan Bautista, the overflow of peripheral streams led to emergency housing for affected families at military grounds belonging to the Second Cavalry Division.
Across the border, authorities reported port closures, restrictions in riverside tourist areas such as Puerto Iguazú, and the evacuation of island residents. The Argentine side of the basin is grappling with the same wave of water that has already flooded Paraguayan communities.
According to the reports, the emergency stems from water saturation caused by severe rainfall in the upper basin, located in Brazilian territory. That accumulation forced the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant to keep its 18 spillway gates open throughout the week after reaching its maximum operational safety levels. The flow increased to between 18,000 and 19,000 cubic meters per second.
The rise in flow, which grew by as much as 7,000 cubic meters per second within days, set off operational alarms in both Paraguay and Argentina. Argentine authorities also reported port closures, restrictions in riverside tourist areas such as Puerto Iguazú and the evacuation of island residents.
Operational forces and local authorities are maintaining permanent technical monitoring of the Parana basin, as weather forecasts point to continued rainfall.
Floods of this kind often hit the poorest communities hardest, since low-income families tend to settle on riverbanks and low-lying ground. Whether the water level will begin to fall in the coming days will depend largely on rainfall in the upper basin in Brazil, which forecasters expect to continue. i}n this sense, officials stressed the importance of not returning to flood-prone areas and of respecting the river’s natural beds to avoid a cyclical repetition of socio-environmental emergencies.
A heavy rainstorm has been sweeping across the island of Crete on Thursday with tons of water flooding homes, businesses and agricultural land, damaging roads and bridges, causing the life of one person and putting at risk the lives of thousands. Most affected are the regions of Heraklion, Lasithi and Rethymnon. Thye bad weather is […]
Thousands gathered at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh on August 15, 2026, to commemorate 21 years of peace between Indonesia and the separatist Free Aceh Movement, or GAM. Some participants raised GAM’s red, black and white crescent-star flag and chanted “Free Aceh,” while others lowered Indonesia’s national flag and replaced it with the former […]
The flooding on Aug. 26 killed more than 1,100 people and left roughly 4,400 missing, after a glacier collapsed in the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China.
The flooding on Aug. 26 killed more than 1,100 people and left roughly 4,400 missing, after a glacier collapsed in the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said that 30 Canadians and permanent residents remain missing, a number she says may change as the government gets more information.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said that 30 Canadians and permanent residents remain missing, a number she says may change as the government gets more information.
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