After the August 26th floods in Nepal, reports reaching Gordon Willcock in Kathmandu described families who had lost more than their homes. Willcock, Direct Relief’s Asia Pacific regional director, said that many farmers had lost what they knew as their land, after river valleys were buried in mud and silt.

Willcock, who was also on the ground after the devastating 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, which killed more than 8,000 people, described some key differences between the two disasters. With the August floods, given the scale of transformation, some communities might have to relocate altogether.

“In an earthquake, buildings in a localized area are destroyed, but then you can rebuild. In this disaster, it’s not like you can excavate and rebuild your house.…