Nepal floods 2025: Delivering CARE’s emergency backpack in 48 hours

These individual struggles of survival repeat every single year across Nepal, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. This is a cruel paradox: despite emitting less than 0.03% of global greenhouse gases, the country bears the brunt of a warming planet. The heat trapped by larger nations fuels the extreme downpours that directly trigger Nepal’s devastating floods and landslides — and the scale of the destruction is climbing rapidly.

The sheer numbers are staggering. Between 2018 and 2024, the country recorded more than 32,000 disasters — fires, landslides, floods, earthquakes — averaging thousands yearly. These caused 3,672 deaths, thousands of injuries, and nearly $182 million in losses.

But the statistics don’t capture the economic devastation caused by these events. For families living near Nepal’s poverty line, surviving on an average of just $530 a year, a single afternoon of floodwaters can instantly erase a decade of hard work.

Stripped of the basics, families are suddenly left with no way to cook, keep dry, or sleep safely. The immediate aftermath is always a race against the clock. For Sarita, surviving the water was just the first hurdle — the real trial was waiting to see when help would arrive.

Traditionally, aid in Nepal moves slowly. The rugged terrain, deep valleys, and broken infrastructure mean relief often arrives bit by bit.

A family might get a plastic tarp from one agency, a few cooking pots from another days later, and hygiene kits next week. This broken system falls hardest on women and girls. They are the ones forced to walk for hours, back and forth across mud-slicked mountain trails, trying to piece together a basic survival kit to carry home on their backs.

Bridging aid delivery gaps

To fix this fragmented system, CARE went back to its roots. Partnering with T-Works, India’s largest prototyping center, they redesigned the iconic post-WWII CARE PACKAGE®  for modern disasters.

The result is a single, 30-pound backpack — CARE PACKAGE for Emergencies — containing more than 35 essential items. It holds everything a family of four needs to survive for a month: heavy-duty shelter material, water purification supplies, hygiene items, a kitchen kit, and solar lights. Crucially, the load is split into a main backpack and two detachable side bags, making it balanced and manageable for people to carry over treacherous terrain.

CARE piloted the initiative in Nepal, Bangladesh, Malawi, Mozambique, and the Philippines with Coca-Cola Foundation funding.

“The new CARE Package for Emergencies was redesigned following the field testing of the Alpha Kit in Jajarkot’s rough terrains. It reflects a more inclusive and context-specific approach, integrating components recommended by the Shelter, WASH, and Protection teams,” says Suraj Shrestha, a coordinator at CARE. “The core feature is portability. When a woman can easily carry her family’s relief on her own terms, it protects both her safety and her dignity.”

From warehouse to families: The 48-hour race

To ensure relief could move instantly, CARE Nepal had pre-positioned 500 fully packed backpacks in strategic hubs. One of those hubs was Nepalgunj, just 46 miles (74 kilometers) from flood-prone Bardiya.

When the flash floods hit Thakurbaba Municipality on September 10 and 11, the team didn’t have to wait to source supplies. Local partners and municipal authorities got to work immediately, assessing which families had lost their homes.

Because the backpacks were already sealed and waiting nearby, the logistics were clean and fast. It took just three hours to drive the distance to Bardiya, landing help directly into the hands of families well within that critical 48-hour emergency window.

“With support from the municipal team, police, and the army, we relocated 125 families,” says Prem Bahadur Thapa of the Thakurbaba Municipality. “CARE Nepal provided these backpacks for the families whose houses were completely unlivable. Because of this, we were able to respond within 48 hours of the disaster.”

“When all 35-plus items were unpacked and laid out together, people were just stunned and relieved,” says Man Bahadur Dangi, humanitarian specialist at CARE Nepal. “Everything they needed was right there, packed into a single, lightweight bag.”

Sarita’s experience shows what that speed meant in real life, far beyond organizational statistics. “When everything was in chaos, with no food and no place to sit, receiving a package with all the necessary things at once brought me so much joy,” she says. “From the tarp to the toothpaste, the solar light to the cooking pots, everything was there. I knew CARE Nepal would be there when we needed support most. My family felt safe again.”

“The flood swept away absolutely everything we owned,” adds Budhaniya Tharu, another survivor from the municipality. “We received utensils, a stove, women’s hygiene items, soap. At a time when we had nothing, these items were a lifeline.”

Rapid recovery underway

The emergency packs did exactly what they were meant to do: they stabilized lives fast. The solar lights became the most precious item in the kit, giving families a way to safely navigate the pitch-black nights and keep their phones charged to contact relatives. The tarps became instant shelters, and the kitchen kits meant mothers could cook hot meals without having to beg neighbors to borrow supplies.

Weeks later, Sarita looks at the kit as the foundation of her family’s recovery. “We are still using the plates, the light, and the utensils today,” she says. “The solar light literally gave us light in the darkness.”

Post-distribution checks confirmed that the rapid aid hit the mark, covering the gaps that traditional relief missed.

Thakurbaba Municipality Deputy Mayor Bina Kumari Bhattarai saw the impact firsthand. “This relief pack is far better than anything we’ve been able to distribute before,” she notes. “Usually, we have to collect items from five different places and piece them together. This pack already includes everything, and it arrives when people need it most.”

Ultimately, Sarita’s reflection brings the entire operation back to its true human core, proving that rapid aid is about protecting human dignity and a family’s future.

“The items we received will last for many years. If that support had not come quickly, we would have had to beg, borrow, or take loans. My economic condition is weak, and it would have been very difficult. Now I look at my small children and think, I have to rebuild, for their future.”

 A blueprint for the next crisis

The success in Bardiya shows that a faster, locally led response is entirely possible. This is driven by CARE Nepal’s Humanitarian Partnership Platform (HPP), a community network built on over a decade of grassroots trust. Through this platform, local organizations, community groups, and city officials are able to coordinate delivery seamlessly. By combining this deep local presence with pre-positioned supplies, the system effectively removes the bureaucratic delays that usually stall disaster response.

Bardiya proved a simple truth: preparedness saves lives. A total of 121 families found solid ground within 48 hours because these backpacks were sitting on a shelf ready to move.

Expanding this program across Nepal’s high-risk districts with tighter municipal coordination could protect thousands of families during those perilous first days of a crisis.

“In every crisis, families lose more than possessions. They lose stability, safety, and hope,” says Mona Sherpa, CARE Nepal Country Director. “CARE PACKAGE for Emergencies reflects our commitment to delivering faster, more inclusive, and life-saving humanitarian assistance. By investing in preparedness and locally led response systems, we can ensure that families receive the support they need when it matters most.”

About CARE in Nepal: CARE started its operations in Nepal in 1978 and is one of the first international humanitarian organizations to work in the country. During the last four decades, CARE Nepal has been working with the most at-risk communities of Nepal to address the issues of poverty and social injustice, challenge harmful social practices, build capacities and empower livelihoods. Today CARE Nepal works to address systemic and structural causes of poverty and social injustice such as discrimination based on sex, caste, class, ethnicity or geography. CARE supports humanitarian actions to address vulnerabilities from climate change and natural disasters.

In fiscal year 2025, CARE in Nepal reached 1.14 million people, including 53% women and girls, through its thematic priorities on women and girls’ empowerment, health and education rights, green growth and women’s economic resilience, disaster risk reduction, and women and girls leading in emergencies.