IDDRR
Nepal: Building safety before the storm
In flood-prone western Nepal, the community of Kutiyakabar turned fear into resilience by investing in a flood-safe shelter. Built through local and international partnership, the shelter protected lives during devastating floods and now serves as a community hub year-round.
ORGANISATION
Mercy Corps Nepal
LOCATION
Dodhara Chadani Municipality of Kanchanpur district, Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal
Living with fear of the floods
For 42-year-old Maya Devi, the sound of monsoon rain used to be the sound of fear. For generations, her community of Kutiyakabar, nestled where the Mahakali and Jogbuda rivers meet in Nepal, had been caught in a devastating cycle. When the rivers swelled, they lost everything – their homes, their crops, their sense of safety.
“Before, we would spend nights in schools, wet and hungry,” she recalls. “We would cling to whatever high ground we could find and pray for the water to recede.” Relief would eventually come, but it was always after the loss – a bandage on a wound that would inevitably reopen the next year.
Prepared for the next flood
In 2024, when the worst flood in years tore through the region, something was different. The fear was still there, but this time, there was also a place to go.
As the floodwaters surged on 7 July, paralysing the district, Maya and her children didn’t run to a crowded school. They walked into a sturdy, elevated building built on their own land: the Kutiyakabar Flood Safe Shelter. Inside, they found a dry floor, a solid roof, and a community united in safety.
They were not alone. The shelter became a sanctuary for the most vulnerable – the elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant mothers. Among them was Manisha Sunar, who was just days away from giving birth. As the storm raged outside, Manisha safely delivered a healthy baby inside the shelter’s walls. A new life began in a place built to protect life.
“I was so lucky to have this flood-safe shelter,” Manisha said, holding her newborn. “It saved both our lives.”
An investment in prevention
This shelter is more than just a building; it is the physical proof of a radical shift in thinking. Built two years prior, it was a deliberate choice by the community and its partners to stop simply reacting to disasters and start preparing for them. Through a joint fund pooled by international partners, the local government, and the community members themselves, they invested in prevention.
The structure was designed for resilience. But in a stroke of community genius, it was also designed for life between the floods. In the dry season, the hall buzzes with activity. It’s a community centre where women’s savings groups meet, a classroom for agricultural training, and a space where young people organise events. It has woven itself into the fabric of daily life, making the investment valuable every single day of the year.
A model for others
The results of this one investment are a blueprint for the world. During the 2023 and 2024 floods, not a single life was lost in Kutiyakabar. Families were able to protect their livestock and essential belongings, preventing the economic ruin that once followed every flood.
This success has sparked a ripple of hope. The Nepal Army has already replicated the shelter’s design in a neighbouring area. The nearby community of Santitole is now demanding one of their own, and the local municipality has committed to funding another shelter in the next fiscal year.
Kutiyakabar’s story is a powerful testament for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. It proves that while we cannot stop the rivers from rising, we can choose to build a future where communities rise with them. It shows that the smartest money we can spend is not on relief after a tragedy, but on the resilience that prevents the tragedy from ever happening. It is an investment that pays its dividends not in dollars, but in lives saved, futures secured, and babies born safely in the middle of a storm.
Project partners
Supported by the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance (ZFRA), the project was carried out by Mercy Corps Nepal in partnership with the local NGO NEEDS at Dodhara Chadani Municipality of Kanchanpur District, Sudurpaschim Province.
This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, GNDR calls for governments, donors, the private sector and financial institutions to prioritise funding for resilience, not just funding for disasters when they strike.
All photos: Mercy Corps Nepal