Nepal Earthquake: Rain pours in woes as Kathmandu shivers at 13°C

KATHMANDU: The rains couldn't have come at a worse time for the thousands of people in Kathmandu waiting in the open for news from hospitals about the wounded and dying, from the police about those missing and from friends and relatives about those who survived the massive 7.8 earthquake and those who didn't.

At the Tribhuvan International Airport at about 9pm, hundreds of Indians had gathered outside the terminus, wet and hungry. They would probably spend the night standing, pushing and shoving each other for a centimeter more space on earth that kept shaking through most part of Sunday. Inside the airport, guards sat forlornly as passengers could get neither food nor water. "Everything is shut, everything is dead," said a policeman.

As passengers shivered in temperatures that were brought down by the rain to about 13 degrees Celsius, there were no taxis to take them either home or to the hotel. One driver, who went from distraught family to distraught family looking to know who would pay the most for a five minute ride to the main city, settled on a family that gave them Rs 3000 (Indian currency, which is more in the ratio of 1:1.60).

A little beyond, at Baluwatar, near the Bhat Bhateni super market in the heart of the city, most residents had left their houses and were sleeping in a community centre. Young men stood guard, to warm them in the event of fresh tremors and to drive away thieves.

Kathmandu was a scared, haunted, edgy city on Sunday, with people so helpless in the absence of a sensible response from the Nepalese government that the tiniest act of kindness brings tears to the eye of shocked residents. But what's worse is that everyone seems to be convinced that darker days are set to follow.