LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — A Lexington man is holding onto hope after catastrophic flooding tore through Nepal, killing nearly 600 people and leaving thousands missing, including three of his family members.
For Suneel Shrestha, the disaster is not a distant tragedy. It is home.
"When I see the video, I really cry. I can't explain anything," Shrestha said.
Shrestha said the nightmare began before he even got out of bed.
"When I see the message, there's a lot of message like our family members are missing. Nobody's contacted," Shrestha said.
His brother was eventually found alive, rescued by the army and taken to a camp, but not without injuries.
"Now he's home, but he's OK, but he cannot talk to anybody. But still we're missing our five family members," Shrestha said.
Search crews found two bodies: his nephew and his uncle's sister. Shrestha is still waiting for word on his uncle, his aunt, and his cousin.
"So we're thinking positive thinking. So it's just fingers crossed. Hopefully they come back as alive," Shrestha said.
Thousands of miles from Nepal, Shrestha is doing what he can, calling family, sending money, and asking Lexington to stand with his home country.
"Try to give small, even $1 bill also give big amount for us right now for my home country, so just support my country," Shrestha said.
For Kentuckians who want to help, Shrestha recommends donating directly to Nepal's Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund, which he says goes directly to the families.
