Local Nepalese contact family members, start raising funds

Chicago-area residents from Nepal spent much of Saturday on phones and social media trying to reach family members in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake that killed or injured thousands of people.

Bishnu Phuyal, president of the Nepali American Center in Mount Prospect, which holds social events, said all of his immediate family in Nepal is safe, but a distant relative - the in-law of his nephew - was killed when a building collapsed following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

Phuyal woke up at 3:45 a.m. on Saturday and started trying to find his many family members in Nepal.

"I started calling landlines, but no one was picking up," he said. "I didn't know the extent of the earthquake right away. Then I tried cellphones and social media and got to reach them."

Many of his relatives though, don't know how much damage has been done to their homes because they haven't been able to get back inside.

"It is quite a devastation," Phuyal said.

Phuyal has been in the United States for 23 years, but was back in Nepal as recently as last February for a family wedding.

Seeing images of the destroyed villages has been very upsetting, he said.

"Old traditional buildings collapsed, people's homes have fallen down. It's really, really shocking," Phuyal said.

Benimadhav Kandel, president of the Chicagoland Nepali Friendship Society, said he has reached all of his immediate relatives and that they were not injured in the quake.

"It's terrible how many people are dead and injured," Kandel said. "It's very scary, just terrible." Jitendra Rana, vice president of the organization, said phone lines weren't working, but social media enabled him to reach his family in Nepal on Saturday.

"People were able to post or reach each other on Facebook and Twitter so we know they are OK," Rana said. "We were very scared because the magnitude was so high. It is very sad."

Kandel said his organization plans to get together with other leaders from the Chicago Nepali community on Sunday and form a committee to raise money for the disaster. Phuyal said the Mount Prospect-based Nepali American Center will also set up an online fundraising page for victims of the earthquake and will work with other organizations in the area to get resources and donations to Nepal.