Deadly Storm in Nepal Sparks Calls for Better Weather Warnings

The windstorm that swept through five farming villages in Nepal’s southern lowland was so ferocious that people had hardly any time to run for a cover.

Nepali family members sit next to their damaged houses at Bhaluhi Bharbaliya village in Nepal's southern Bara district near Birgunj on April 1, 2019, the morning after a rare spring storm. Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images

KATHMANDU, Nepal—In a cluster of villages along Nepal’s southern border with India, there was an air of calm before the storm late on March 31, as people went about their evening chores or prepared for dinner.

Within minutes, a ferocious windstorm swept through five farming villages in the southern lowland, leaving at least 27 dead and more than 600 injured.