Authorities warn of further flooding in Nepal
KATHMANDU — Authorities in Nepal have warned of the risk of further flooding after heavy rainfall, as China sheds light on the scale of the disaster in its Tibet region, reports BritPanorama.
Five days after surging floodwaters from a glacier collapse buried communities across the region in thick mud, rescuers in Nepal were still struggling to reach devastated communities as the full scale of the destruction emerged.
“The disaster here is overwhelming,” Ferrin Cole, an operations director at the U.S.-based Crisis Response International, told NBC News on Sunday. “The flood that came down that mountain just wiped out cities. We’re going in as fast as we can to get people the help that they need.”
Cole stated that his team would work to provide assistance to those in need and locate missing persons, although working in mud “is actually pretty dangerous.” He highlighted the potential for disease, noting, “The longer that death and mud are together, diseases breed, and so we’re always just aware of that.”
Approximately 100 Americans are among the missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet region, the State Department said Saturday.
In Nepal, the death toll has risen to 752, with over 2,500 people still missing, including 592 foreign nationals, according to the country’s disaster agency. The Nepal Tourism Board reported that 261 foreign nationals have been rescued.
China has separately reported 16 deaths and 546 people missing in its Tibet region, including 261 foreign nationals. It remains unclear how much overlap exists between the Chinese and Nepali missing-person counts.
Families of those missing may face a long wait for answers, as many bodies have been washed far downstream and recovered in poor condition. Morgues in Nepal have been overwhelmed, although authorities are collecting DNA samples to notify relatives.
In the Chitwan district, where numerous bodies have washed up, police officer Anil Thapa reported that “more than half” of the recovered bodies were “beyond recognition.” He noted, “Many have no visible faces. In some cases, only hands or legs remain.”
The response is additionally complicated by a landslide-dammed lake overflowing above the border checkpoint, while heavy rain in Nepal has raised river levels, prompting fresh warnings for those living along waterways.
Nepal’s Flood Alert system indicated on Sunday that heavy rainfall has been measured in various watershed areas of Gandaki Province, with water levels “expected to rise.”
“Therefore, people living in riverside areas are requested to adopt caution,” it stated on X.
However, residents in flood-hit areas expressed confusion over repeated warnings since the initial floods. “Sometimes they say a flood is coming, then we have to run again to higher ground, even at night. There is also rain,” said Govind Shreshta, a Galchhi resident. “It’s really difficult for me. I have a 72-year-old father and 70-year-old mom. I must carry them and I am exhausted. It’s going on like this for those who are still alive.”
China’s state-run media, CCTV, noted that the disaster is part of a growing pattern of glacier-related disasters in the region, reporting that the avalanche reached China’s Gyirong Port within minutes of occurrence.
“The disaster was caused by glacier instability resulting from the long-term effects of climate warming,” stated the report. It described the event as occurring suddenly, with a high speed and severe destructive force.
While it will take time to determine the exact cause of the mudslide and flood disaster, analysts believe climate change has likely played a role. The Himalayan region, which includes Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, China, and Afghanistan, is extremely vulnerable to climate change, with temperatures rising faster than the global average.
The suspected glacier collapse produced seismic tremors initially registered as equivalent to a magnitude-4.4 earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey later adjusted this to a magnitude-5.2 earthquake, reporting a second seismic event three hours later, equivalent to a 4.2 magnitude. Debris flow and flooding from what was termed a “slope failure” extended 62 miles, according to the USGS.
Neera Shrestha Pradhan, an expert at Nepal’s International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, remarked, “We will not be able to attribute 100% that this is because of climate change… But climate change might be breaking a threshold, she said, and ‘maybe that might be one of the causes of this happening.’”
The scope of this tragedy underscores the challenges facing rescue operations and recovery efforts in the region.
