The Trump Administration Cut Funds for Natural Hazards Monitoring in Nepal. A Year Later, Disaster Struck
The cut ended landslide and flood mapping in Nepal, while scientists said more than 1,100 people died in the later Himalayan disaster.
- Over 1,100 people perished when a massive Himalayan glacier collapse triggered deadly floods in Nepal and China, occurring after the Trump administration terminated funding for the SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya monitoring program early last year.
- The Trump administration concluded funding for SERVIR-HKH last year as the Department for Government Efficiency undertook measures that effectively closed USAID, causing overall US foreign aid to fall by 57 per cent.
- Birendra Bajracharya, the program's former director, said funding cuts halted critical "landslide situational awareness" and slope motion detection, preventing staff from completing essential hazard forecasts.
- Rebuilding costs are estimated between $4–5 billion, or about a tenth of Nepal's GDP, while more than 900 hydropower workers remain missing and nine operating plants sustained severe damage.
- Columbia University geophysicist Marco Tedesco warned the region is becoming increasingly vulnerable to calamities, citing lack of investment in proper early warning technologies as a critical ongoing challenge.
13 Articles
13 Articles
It has been revealed that the Donald Trump administration suspended support for Nepal's natural disaster monitoring program immediately after the launch of its second term last year. Critics point out that residents could have prepared in advance had the program continued. CNN reported on the 2nd (local time) that the second Trump administration is set to launch in January 2025.
The Trump administration cut funds for natural hazards monitoring in Nepal. A year later, disaster struck
In January 2025, the Trump administration cut off funding for a program to identify and monitor landslide hotspots in Nepal. Just over a year later, disaster struck.
The Independent
The Independent (US)Major mountain safety aid programme cut by Trump before Nepal floods
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former lead for disaster response at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has criticised the government for closing climate and disaster-focused programmes in the Himalayas
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