Posted by Marc McLeran

Overnight, the strongest earthquake to strike Nepal in over 80 years left massive destruction between the major cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara. The latest reports indicate up to 1100 dead with extensive damage to homes and buildings.

ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member Nicola Hinds from Ireland will lead the initial assessment and is returning to Nepal on behalf of ShelterBox for the third time in the past year, most recently providing aid in the northern sections of the country following heavy flooding and landslides last August. She and her team will be onsite late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

ShelterBox has aid pre-positioned in Nepal and is already speaking with other aid organizations and local Rotary contacts to determine where help is most needed. Once arrangements have been made on the ground, aid distribution will be swift.

If you have questions on the ShelterBox response to this or any other disaster, contact Jim Carriere from the Rotary Club of San Rafael Harbor at james.carriere@gmail.com. To learn more or to support the ShelterBox mission, simply go to www.shelterboxusa.org and click on “donate now.”