Nepal thread

I'm surprised there isn't a thread about Nepal. It's a pretty horrible situation there, and beginning to be a humanitarian crisis. I'm afraid the death toll will rise dramatically in the next few days.

The death toll rises on almost an hourly basis.  Yahoo has a link that brings one to a series of charities and relief organizations

that are accepting donations.  The last  confirmed number of deaths was 3,700 .   This is a tragedy beyond imagination

and in an area not well equipped to deal with such an event.

(This is the thread about Nepal.  maybe the title should be changed.)

New forum doesn't have the ability to edit  titles yet. Brothers Ross & Pavel are working on  it!

ffof said:

(This is the thread about Nepal.  maybe the title should be changed.)

I think most of us are without words.  Therefore, no conversation.

I'm following it in the news but am too horrified to really feel like discussing on MOL.

I have a colleague that we work together on the Gmail Product Forums together, he lives in Nepal, we have had no contact. Others on our team are trying to piece together times of Facebook posts from him and when the earthquakes hit. Unfortunately none of us are sure what time stamp is on the posts whether local to him or local to the viewer, or yet even another time that we just can't figure out.

Scott..here are two tools that people are using to locate survivors in Nepal. Perhaps you are already doing so but it looks like good information to disseminate

https://google.org/personfinder/2015-nepal-earthquake/

https://www.facebook.com/about/safetycheck/

Yeah - we have used these tools. We also have our counterparts at Google also working to find his status.  Last message I received from him was on my birthday on the 18th.

Agreed, but its a much better response from the local government than I received when the train schedules dramatically changed 2 weeks before Hurricane Sandy.

Here's an article about ways to help.  It is general in nature.  If I find something about more specific places, I will post it, but I would start with the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/27/earthquake-nepal-dont-rush-help-volunteers-aid?CMP=fb_gu

Whooooo hoooo - we just received this from our colleague:

"Hey guys I'm safe!

And then he sends this as an addendum

"love you all ..! don't worry. "

debby said:

I'm surprised there isn't a thread about Nepal. It's a pretty horrible situation there, and beginning to be a humanitarian crisis. I'm afraid the death toll will rise dramatically in the next few days.

 Just renamed this the Nepal thread.

scottgreenstone said:

Whooooo hoooo - we just received this from our colleague:

"Hey guys I'm safe!

First time I felt an earthquake. first shock was much more dangerous.All the people were gathered in a school ground. i could not forget it. on the road electric poles were dancing.

My shop rebuild are in progress. At that time workers were inside in broken building. i went there and shouted very loudly. after that all worker safely exit the building.

In a few hours, lot of news started..
still mild tremors are coming...According to city news, it will not stop before 15 days.
sorry for delay in response. Take care! "

 Very glad you got good news.  You and the rest of us are concerned about all of the victims, but at least your personal concern has been somewhat alleviated.

Here is a vetted list of some of the reliable charities who have indicated they will be participating in Nepal relief:

• AmeriCares
• CARE
• Catholic Relief Services
• Direct Relief
• GlobalGiving
• Save the Children
• Seva Foundation 

The above list comes from this blog post on Charity Navigator: http://ht.ly/M7eJc

He goes on to say:

"But before you give to one of these charities, first decide what you want your donation to accomplish and select the charity offering that specific type of aid. To do this, simply use Charity Navigator's website to view a charity's rating page. Once you are satisfied with its rating, then you can jump to the charity’s website to learn more about the type of assistance the charity is providing in relation to this disaster."

The above names are direct links to Charity Navagator.

@scott - I'm so glad your colleague is ok.

I've been following some pages on facebook. After a 2 day run of good news, it all stopped.  Gradually, people are getting notified of casualties. I'm afraid this phase is going to last a while.

There are always hundreds of young Israelis in Nepal. They finish the army, and go see the world for a year. All but one were located. This went on until Saturday, when his father, a bunch of friends from his commando unit, and their commander, all flew to Nepal and rented a helicopter. The found his body within 24 hours.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/body-of-israeli-hiker-asraf-retrieved-in-nepal/

BTW - there are many smaller relief efforts as well, that are giving direct help.  There are many scammers as well.