Mud, quicksand and despair are all that’s left of many villages along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. One month on from the devastating flash flood that tore through the region, Nepal Red Cross Society, supported by IFRC, has been working tirelessly to airlift food to remote communities, install water tanks to supply safe drinking water and set up field clinics to treat as many patients as it can every day.

New Zealand Red Cross Secretary General Sarah Stuart-Black on why locally-led disaster response and Kiwi generosity offer hope amid global crises.

When Cyclone Ditwah battered Sri Lanka in late November 2025, it unleashed chaos - more than 3,000 landslides and rapid floods swamped 20 out of 25 districts, from tea-covered highlands to lowland rivers. 

In recent days, intense monsoon rains and a series of powerful storms have caused widespread flooding and landslides across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia. Rivers have burst their banks, entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed, and families have had to flee at short notice as water levels rose rapidly. Tragically, more than 1,400 people have lost their lives, with many still unaccounted for and millions affected across the region.

Over recent months, relentless monsoon rains and glacial floods have devastated Pakistan, claiming almost 1000 lives and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.