KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal is racing to find survivors of a catastrophic flash flood that has already killed hundreds of people while preparing for the possibility of another surge of water that could strike communities still buried under mud and debris.
Authorities have warned residents, travelers and even rescue teams to move away from dangerous riverbanks as newly formed lakes created by debris blockages on both sides of the Nepal-China border threaten to burst, potentially sending another wall of water downstream just as thousands of people remain missing and damaged roads, bridges and communications systems are making the first rescue effort extraordinarily difficult. Nepal’s disaster authority has warned that a lake formed when debris blocked a river is continuing to rise, while Chinese authorities said another barrier lake could receive about 3 million cubic meters of water over the next three days, creating a high risk of a breach.
At least 362 people have been killed in Nepal and neighboring Tibet following Wednesday’s disaster, according to the latest figures reported by Reuters and other authorities, while hundreds to more than 1,000 people remain unaccounted for as search operations continue.
The disaster began when a massive collapse of ice, rock and mountain debris sent an enormous volume of water and sediment into the river system near the Nepal-China border. Scientists examining satellite imagery said the collapse was substantially larger than initially understood, with a section of the mountainous bedrock beneath a glacier giving way and sending millions of tons of rock and ice into the valley. The resulting torrent swept through settlements, roads and infrastructure before moving downstream through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems.
The immediate danger, however, has not passed. Nepal and China have issued fresh warnings after natural dams of mud, rock and debris created lakes upstream of already devastated communities.
Nepalese authorities have urged residents living along lower riverbanks, as well as passengers and rescuers working in the affected areas, to remain in safe locations.
China’s Ministry of Water Resources said Thursday morning that a barrier lake near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers already contained about 2 million cubic meters of water and was overflowing. Another 3 million cubic meters could enter the lake over the following three days, increasing the danger of a breach. Chinese authorities said rainfall expected over the coming week could further increase the threat, with peak flow conditions potentially developing around Sept. 1.
Soldiers carry babies rescued from isolated towns and airlifted to a military camp
For rescuers, the warnings create a terrible dilemma: the people who are most urgently needed to reach isolated communities may themselves have to retreat from the rivers they are searching.
Rescue workers carry relief supplies through mudslide-hit Gyirong county in Shigatse, Tibet Credit: CHINA DAILY
Nepal has mobilized thousands of police, army and armed police personnel for the operation, with authorities saying 9,260 security personnel have been deployed. Police have also begun using drones to search areas along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers, while teams concentrate on isolated communities and stranded tourist groups.
Residents survey the destruction caused by the tsunami-like mudslide in Nuwakot, central Nepal Credit: Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
But the flood has destroyed or damaged roads and bridges and cut off communities, leaving rescuers dependent on helicopters, drones and difficult overland operations. The danger of another flood means that even areas already being searched cannot necessarily be treated as secure.
The human toll is particularly difficult to measure because so many people remain unaccounted for.
Among the missing are foreign tourists and pilgrims traveling through the Himalayan region, including British and American nationals. The U.S. State Department said 90 Americans were missing Thursday, while three had been rescued and officials were not aware of any American deaths at that point.
Credit: ABC News
Nepal’s Tourism Board said 31 tourists had been rescued in Rasuwa, including nationals from the United States, India, South Korea, Italy, Russia, Bulgaria and Switzerland. Thirty-three British tourists, including two teenagers, were still reported missing in the source material, underscoring how difficult it has been for authorities to establish the whereabouts of people caught in the flood while traveling through remote mountain areas.
The destruction has also created an emergency far beyond the search for those missing.
Credit: UNICEF
UNICEF said more than 17,000 children have been affected in Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, with homes, schools and medical facilities damaged or destroyed. The agency said roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, water systems and telecommunications networks have been badly damaged, leaving some communities largely inaccessible and complicating the delivery of basic assistance. UNICEF is appealing for $17.2 million to support its emergency response and early recovery.
International assistance is beginning to arrive, but the scale and geography of the disaster make the need enormous.
The United Nations has allocated $2 million for emergency medical care, shelter and water, while the World Health Organization has sent medical kits intended to support basic health services for 10,000 people for three months.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has allocated more than $1 million, the European Union has activated its Copernicus satellite system to support recovery efforts, Japan is sending an emergency response team and Switzerland has pledged more than $600,000.
The United States has said it is sending a disaster-response adviser along with $500,000 in aid.
Credit: ABC News
Yet in the middle of the international response, the most direct description of Nepal’s situation has come from a local official who is watching the destruction in her own community. Kabita Dhungana, deputy mayor of Nuwakot, described families searching for missing children, parents and relatives while basic necessities have been destroyed.
“Please help us,” she said. “Everything, basic needs, is destroyed, so please help us. We are really in need of help.”
That appeal comes as Nepal faces the possibility that the disaster is not yet finished. The first flood transformed valleys into corridors of mud, rock and shattered infrastructure. The second threat is different: water is now accumulating behind natural barriers created by the destruction itself. If those barriers fail, the resulting surge could move rapidly through the same river systems where rescuers are still searching for survivors.
The priority is therefore no longer simply to recover the missing or deliver aid to those who survived Wednesday’s catastrophe. Nepal must do both while protecting the people carrying out the rescue from becoming victims of another flood. For communities already devastated, the message from authorities is simple: get to higher and safer ground. For the international community, the message from Nuwakot is even simpler — please help us.
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