Nepal Disaster: Swiss Expert Urges Lessons For Future

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Nearly three weeks after devastating floods struck Nepal and Tibet, Swiss engineer Eric Bardou says conditions on the ground remain challenging and calls for a better understanding of such events to help prevent future disasters. Select your language

Generated with artificial intelligence. Listening: Nepal disaster: Swiss expert urges lessons for future This content was published on September 14, 2026 - 15:12 5 minutes Keystone-SDA

Italiano it Nepal: esperto svizzero invita a comprendere meglio la catastrofe Original Read more: Nepal: esperto svizzero invita a comprendere meglio la catas

“You could say it almost feels like an earthquake,” said Eric Bardou, a member of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA), in a telephone call to the Keystone-ATS news agency from Kathmandu on Saturday. On the ground he saw buildings destroyed or displaced by the force of the wave, some of which appeared to have been pushed sideways.

The 57-year-old engineer, who specialises in geotechnical engineering, hydrology and mountain risks, was sent to Nepal by Switzerland on September 5. He was integrated into the mission of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), where his role involved assessing risks related to water and terrain.

On his arrival, two lakes that had formed as a result of landslides raised fears of a new wave.“They drained on their own, but it is the sort of situation that still needed to be monitored,” he explained. The teams had to set up observation points and adjust their movements to ensure they were not caught off guard by a new rise in water levels.

Preserving evidence

The Swiss expert, who is soon returning from Nepal, highlights another, less visible urgency: preserving the traces of the disaster before they disappear.

“If we don't do it now, we will never be able to understand what happened,” he stresses. But behind these traces lies, above all, a human tragedy.

Bardou said he was deeply moved seeing people wandering along the riverbanks, searching for missing relatives or for items that might be salvaged from the rubble. International organisations on the ground are meanwhile focused on trying to rescue those still alive beneath the rubble.

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