Rainstorm victim Gayatri Devi Das, 30, and her two children were taking a nap under the shadow of their tent at Bhulahi in Pheta Rural Municipality-1, Bara, on Monday. Her mother Chandrika Devi Das, 55, was laying out soaked wheat in the sun to dry.

There were no male members in the house during daytime; all of them had gone to work in the city area. According to Chandrika, her husband Bhajju Das, 60, drives an auto rickshaw while her brother-in-law Rangalal Das Paldari works as a daily wage labourer.

“The men in the family go out in search of work. We stay at home but cannot sit inside the tent since it’s too hot,” said Chandrika.

Gayatri also shared a similar ordeal. “Summer is upon us and the heat is becoming unbearable. It is difficult to stay inside the tent during the day. We have to make room for food grains, clothes and other belongings in the tent so that leaves us with little room,” said Gayatri.

Gayatri’s family has eight members including four children and two senior citizens. Most of the rainstorm victims said that their daily lives have been greatly affected since they lost their houses in the disaster.

“It gets unbearably hot during daytime to stay inside the tent and the tent cannot hold the rain either,” said Nisahari Devi of Hardiya in Subarna Rural Municipality-8. “I spend most days in the veranda of my neighbour’s house with my two children to avoid the heat.”

A majority of women and children displaced by the rainstorm are affected by the increasing heat.

Nepal Army soldiers have started to reconstruct houses for rainstorm-affected households. According to Army sources, more than 2,000 soldiers have been deployed in the field for reconstruction works.

On March 31, the rainstorm had claimed the lives of 28 people and rendered hundreds homeless in Bara and Parsa districts.