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.
