On 15 June 2021, 63-year-old Madhav left his trout farm and guesthouse in Melamchi, Nepal, to celebrate his granddaughter’s birthday. What he didn’t know was that within moments, his life – and his family’s – would change forever.

Higher up the mountain, after exceptionally heavy rainfall, a lake was about to burst. It released a deluge of water that tore down the mountainside, picking up loose construction materials along the way and destroying everything in its path.

Madhav’s thriving business was completely destroyed. He spent hours desperately hoping his loved ones had made it out alive.

Tragically, 24 people in the local area died in the flood – including the chef who worked with Madhav at his guesthouse.

Madhav and his family just managed to reach safety, with his eldest son surviving the surge by clinging to a wire. But the flood wiped out everything Madhav had worked so hard to build. In the aftermath, Madhav told us how much the climate had changed in his lifetime:

“It shouldn’t even rain on the mountains. It should only snow.”

This shift in weather is just one devastating example of how the climate crisis is disrupting lives and livelihoods across the world. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

No one should live in fear of losing their loved ones or livelihoods to disasters caused by the climate crisis. Your support today can help protect lives before the next flood hits.

Thanks to support from people like you, Madhav’s village has taken bold action to protect their lives and livelihoods. Together, we’ve installed a solar-powered early warning system that monitors rainfall and sends alerts via text message when flooding is imminent. This “computer that never sleeps” provides crucial minutes of warning, giving people time to act and stay safe.

Families in Melamchi are rebuilding their lives. With our support, local leaders have established emergency committees, run evacuation drills, and stocked life-saving equipment like life jackets and torches. Now, they’re better prepared for whatever comes next.

Your donation will help more people get access to life-saving knowledge and tools like these and strengthen their resilience against the worsening climate crisis.

Madhav told us: “Many lives could have been saved in 2021 if we’d had an early warning system.”

Since 2021, Melamchi has endured 15 floods. Thanks to the early warning system and community-led preparation, not a single life has been lost.

But every day, people in villages like Melamchi still face the risk of deadly floods washing away everything they care about with no warning. Your support can help change that.

Every gift you make can bring sustainable solutions to more people on the front line of climate change. Together, we can build a world where people feel secure knowing their family is protected from disasters. Please give today.