Nepal Earthquake Crews Race to Rescue Climbers on Mount Everest

— -- Crews battled shifting weather conditions as they raced to rescue the remaining Mount Everest climbers stranded by Saturday’s deadly avalanche.

According to International Mountain Guides, a helicopter was able to recover gear from Camp 1, as well as the remaining climbers, after the fog lifted today, the first favorable weather since the earthquake and avalanche.

More than 150 climbers, trapped with no other way off the mountain, were rescued today by helicopter, IMG said.

The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake has climbed above 4,300, and could go much higher if it turns out that vulnerable mountain villages — where information is still scarce and rescue workers are still struggling to reach — were hit hard.

At least 18 others were killed in the avalanche, officials said.

The disasters have created huge humanitarian need. About 1.4 million people are in need of immediate help following the earthquake, according to the World Food Program.

WFP emergencies officer Geoff Pinnock says it has identified eight places that are in need of critical help and "our focus is on relief operations in those places."

Those areas in Gorkha district, where the earthquake was centered, are Ghyachol, Saurpani, Warpak, Larpak, Gundra, Lapa, Kashigaun and Kerauja.

In Kathmandu, houses across the city were damaged and flattened, with thousands upon thousands of people left homeless. Many streets are impassible, filled not only with rubble but with the injured.

Thousands of people are fleeing Kathmandu, unwilling to go into any building, fearing the effects of another aftershock.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.