Catastrophic flooding/avalanche in Nepal/Tibet

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After closely following the avalanche in Nepal/Tibet that just occurred, I feel the worse is yet to come. By now, you’ve seen the videos of several areas being demolished and obliterated.

For the sake of trauma, I will NOT repost all these images or videos.

I am NOT on standby to go or deploy out to this area. And for those wondering, all of my current work is relegated to domestic assignments (within the US).

But let’s start thinking about the hazards and ramifications.

The ice shelf/avalanche seemly started this causing a debris flow to go down the side of the mountain. Many of these small towns line the river.

Well above the small towns, there appear to be a few tributaries and lakes that hold back the flow. But with all the debris coming down, the river and outlets gets blocked from the debris causing more challenges with flow control.

But when it finally gives from the pressure and the clogging of debris, the dams breach causing huge flash flooding to occur.

These cascading effects are common in disasters and rarely is it only one type of disaster responsible for immeasurable damages/loss of life.

Ostensibly, I’d like to think the local officials were aware of these issues prior and readied emergency messaging for all mobile devices in the area. This way, in case of catastrophic issue, they could be ready to send the evac notice to everyone.

As you know, most of that part of the world operates solely off mobile devices (not laptops, desktop computers) so I hope local officials were able to send out information early to those in affected areas.

IMHO, I think we will see thousands of causalities including many who will never be found.

It’s waaaay to early to tell how many teams will be needed to rescue or extricate/recover bodies but I hope many agencies are providing aide to those primary agencies.

Now might be a good time for your agencies to engage with your local emergency management agency to see how they can better position themselves and enhance their preparedness efforts with all other public safety partners.

@rusnivek

Midweek grooming!

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Middle of the week pick me up as we round the corner to the 2026 National Preparedness Month!

Since we all know the star of the pet preparedness posts, we know KacyTheDog has to be fresh for all her glamour shots.

Just shy of her kabillionth birthday, I believe her adorable posts on pet preparedness has helped many be better prepared and ready for any emergency or disaster.

@rusnivek

Godzilla at Haneda airport?!?!?

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How am I just finding out that Haneda Airport (Japan) has a gigantic statue of Godzilla on display for everyone to see!?!!??!

An official statue sanctioned by Haneda Godzilla Global Project – and it welcomes you too!

Dang it. I gotta figure out how I can get there to see her IRL.

My friends said it’s about 131 wide and over 20ft tall!

OMG OMG OMG

@rusnivek

Mother nature and her temper

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It seems like Mother Nature has been beating the crap out of us lately with storm after storm after storm after storm…Maybe MAYBE she likes us again!??!!?

At least this week, it’s been a bit better.

Kinda. Well, at least we have good partners like NWS-Chicago to help forecast our efforts in the field. Their coordinated calls early on are definitely helpful esp with all these ongoing large scale events and public activities.

If you don’t already, consider following your local National Weather Service Office for critical weather information 24/7…..at no cost to you.

@rusnivek