‘Immense’ Devastation as Nepal Continues Search for 2,400 Missing in Floods

[Devastating Monsoon Floods Claim 2,400 Missing in Nepal as Rescue Efforts Continue]

Entire towns were obliterated as roads, bridges, and communication lines vanished. Within minutes, tens of thousands of villagers found themselves broken, confused, while torrential floodwaters engulfed the peaceful Himalayan basin.

Four days later, rescue operations in Nepal and adjacent Tibet intensified on Saturday, revealing the immense scale of the disaster.

The official count of missing individuals rose above 2,400—double the previous total—and the death toll climbed past 600, continuing to rise. Downstream morgues have been overwhelmed by bodies, compelling authorities to create ad‑hoc solution spaces.

“In living memory, we haven’t seen a mountain hazard event like this,” Kamal Kishore, the United Nations’ top official for disaster risk reduction, said on Friday. “The impact on lives, livelihoods, buildings, infrastructure, bridges, hydroelectric projects, power generation is really immense.”

Recovery looms as a monumental challenge.

Nepal is one of the world’s poorest nations. Its struggling economy relies heavily on tourism and the remittances sent home by its migrant labor force.

As one of Asia’s most climate‑vulnerable regions, Nepal faces heightened risks from glacial lake outburst floods. Even during non‑flood seasons, occasional monsoon‑induced downpours trigger landslides and road closures, putting its fragile infrastructure under constant strain.

Fresh threats of flooding loom large over ongoing rescue and relief operations.

China reported on Friday that a barrier lake, created when the landslide that started Wednesday’s deluge blocked the river system, had begun overflowing in Tibet, near where the floods originated. Nepali authorities issued repeated alerts downstream, and police officers hurried through nearby towns with megaphones, asking people to move to higher ground. China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, later reported that the risk of a breach at the barrier lake had “gradually decreased,” though the threat of another flood remained.

Rescue missions along the Nepali border centered on several hydropower facilities swept away by the surge of water and debris, with army teams racing through slick tunnels to retrieve stranded crews.

The rapid increase in missing persons was partly attributable to dozens of turbine plant staff whose status remained uncounted in the initial loss tally.

Flooding risks briefly halted Tibetan rescue operations on Friday, but Chinese crews restarted their search early Saturday, focusing on the Gyirong border crossing between Nepal and Tibet. Footage captured firefighters excavating the flattened area, tapping the earth with sanduces and calling, “Is anyone there?”

The Nepalese government, having come to power last spring amid Gen Z activism, is mounting a fierce effort to regain authority and stabilize the nation amid the calamity.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah, 36, has stayed silent on national radio yet has visited devastated sites and convened coordination meetings to direct the country’s response.

The administration has mobilized more than 30,000 security personnel for rescue and reconstruction operations. Anticipating chaos from a prior disaster response, officials initially barred international assistance; by Friday they began relaxing those limits.

Thousands have already been extracted from submerged settlements via heavy‑lift helicopters and transport to hospitals and emergency shelters, where they receive nutrition and medical care.

Moving forward, reconstruction will dominate the agenda. Yet for countless victims who lost family members, livelihoods and homes, a restored future seems distant, and the prospect of returning home remains uncertain.

Hydropower installations along the Bhotekoshi River and other waterways have suffered the greatest losses, with stretches of highway and more than forty bridges reduced to rubble.

Early figures estimate physical damages exceed $1.3 billion, while the finance minister forecast that total recovery costs could reach several billions.

Anupreeta Das and Lily Kuo contributed reporting.

Source link