As word of the devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet began to spread around the world, Nepali leaders in Chicago held a virtual emergency meeting Wednesday night. Over a crowded Facebook Messenger call, they discussed how to best coordinate fundraising efforts for disaster relief.
Thousands of immigrants from Nepal have settled across Chicago and its suburbs, starting nonprofits, opening restaurants and operating businesses. The first-ever Nepali street festival was held Aug. 15, where festivalgoers came to see displays of Nepal’s art, music and food in the Edgewater neighborhood.
Now, those leaders are using the strength of their community to organize action.
In attendance during that online meeting was Shriniwas Kabra, vice president at the Nepali American Center. He said people in the call were from many different organizations and had separate goals, but they agreed to send fundraising money to Nepali government disaster accounts together as one group as they planned traditional and online fundraisers.
Eventually, Kabra said, they would like to collect material goods as well.
“Everyone agreed that we need to work together, and we need to help in whatever way we can,” he said.
Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods this week that killed nearly 600 people and left almost 2,500 missing, according to the latest numbers released by the governments and rescue groups. Rescuers on the Nepal-China border were pulling out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety.
Army soldiers help a family disembark from a helicopter after they were rescued from an area hit by flash flooding in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, on Aug. 28, 2026. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP)
The rescue efforts included a team that rappelled into a severely damaged checkpoint area on the Chinese side of the border between the two countries. Rescuers were on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that formed high up in the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods Wednesday. Experts warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow.
Videos of the disaster show floodwaters crashing against buildings before swallowing people fleeing. The Chicago area’s Nepali and Tibetan communities quickly organized to provide what support they could.
Kabra, 42, said he woke up Wednesday and saw a video of the floods sent by a friend in Nepal. At first, the Nepali immigrant thought the footage was from a movie or generated by artificial intelligence.
It was real, though. Kabra said friends and families in Nepal reached out to him in the days since the catastrophe saying the “devastating” flood’s effects spread far beyond the border.
“Major highways are un-operatable, all the police, armies, they had to put all their effort in that direction, which is putting too much pressure on the economy,” he said. “It’s real bad in there.”
Kabra owns a flower shop in Niles, Emotional Bonding, 8000 W Oakton St. He said the week of Sept. 6 all of the store’s sales will go to relief for Nepal. He is also a partner with The Clove Indian and Nepali Cuisine and said the Glenview restaurant at 1827 Waukegan Road is planning a similar promotion where customers can buy lunches by donating directly to Nepali aid.
People look at photographs of people killed in flash floods displayed outside a government hospital to help relatives identify the victims in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 28, 2026. (Dar Yasin/AP)
Several of the groups present in Wednesday’s emergency meeting launched a GoFundMe. The flood relief fund raised about $600 as of Friday evening.
Rajan Shahi, president of Chicago-based organization Nepalese Aid, said he is involved with the GoFundMe. People can also donate to the Nepal Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund online, he said.
Thursday night, the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago held a vigil in Evanston for victims of the flood. Community members sat in blue folding chairs in front of an altar, prayed and recited Buddhist mantras.
Conductor of prayers Norbu Samphell led the service, speaking into a microphone and clutching prayer beads.
He said even though the border of Tibet and Nepal is very far away, those in attendance still felt a sentimental connection. Buddhist teachings also dictate that every sentient being should be happy, Samphell said.
“We feel like we need to do it, because when they are suffering, we should pray that these kinds of sufferings should be minimized,” Samphell said.
At the festival earlier this month, Shahi said representatives of nonprofits were able to discuss their culture with other Chicagoans. Shahi said he hopes to hold the event every year moving forward.
“Nepalese people are resilient,” Shahi said. “We will stand together, support one another and we will rise again.”
The Associated Press contributed.