Nepal’s Devastating Floods: A Month Later, Thousands Missing and Families Endure an Arduous Path to Recovery

KATHMANDU, Nepal — After spending five years working in Saudi Arabia, Narayan Prassan returned to his home in Nepal with savings, only to lose his house in the 2015 earthquake. He went abroad again, earned enough to rebuild his home, and settled happily with his family.

However, last month’s devastating floods have destroyed everything once more.

With his home located in a designated danger zone and no clear idea of where his family will resettle, Prassan is currently staying with his wife and children at a relative’s house while contemplating another stint overseas.

“This flood has taken everything from me,” he said. “I do not know what to do next.”

A month after devastating floods swept through parts of Nepal, thousands remain displaced like Prassan, while rescuers continue searching for thousands of others missing, including many believed to be trapped in six hydropower project tunnels. The disaster has left the government facing a long and costly recovery effort, as families confront the loss of loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah used his first address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday to highlight the flooding as a stark warning about the growing climate risks facing the Himalayan region.

“The disaster was not just a local tragedy, but a warning to the world,” Shah said. “I ask you today: Have we truly heard that warning?”

Shah also called for greater international support for Nepal’s recovery and stronger regional cooperation to prepare for climate-related disasters.

“Climate change does not recognize borders. Glaciers and floods do not travel with stamps and passports,” he stated.

Nepal’s disaster management agency reported that 1,453 bodies had been recovered and 5,644 people remained missing. Only 112 bodies had been handed over to relatives, while 1,333 were temporarily buried pending identification. In neighboring China, officials reported 261 foreign nationals among the missing.

Tents have been set up at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu, where relatives can provide DNA samples to help identify the dead. Authorities are comparing these samples with DNA collected from recovered remains.

Laboratory officials declined to provide details, citing privacy concerns, but noted that experts from India, China, the United States, Singapore, and South Korea were assisting with the identification work.

Rabi Kumar Thapa Magar, a hydropower worker who lost his wife, brother, sister-in-law, and mother, said he identified his wife from a photo of the deceased — but authorities had buried her body before the family could see her.

Authorities declined to release the body pending DNA matching, a process they said would take at least a month. The family later performed symbolic final rites using an effigy.

Many others are still processing their profound grief.

Pasang Maya Tamang, 32, who lost her young son in the floods, said she still dreams of him pleading for help.

“The body of my son has been recovered, but I was not able to see him for the last time. I am very sad about that. I hear in my dreams him asking why I left him alone,” Tamang said at a shelter home in the flood-affected town of Nuwakot.

Her son had gone to school with a neighbor when the flood hit. By the time she learned what had happened, the school had already been swept away. His body was recovered three days later in a southern district, but she was unable to travel there to see him.

The Aug. 26 flood hit in the morning, around the time students were arriving at schools or making their way there. Some children’s bodies were later recovered still wearing ties bearing their school’s logo, said Asta Man Dangol, a resident in Nuwakot.

“The older students were able to run uphill and escape, but the little ones who were not able to run fast were swept away,” he said.

The Nepal government estimates reconstruction and recovery will cost $4.77 billion. Nearly 33,000 people have been affected, and about 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed.

The recovery is now focused on restoring roads and bridges cut off by the floods, particularly in remote areas where damaged infrastructure has made it difficult to deliver aid.

Ishmita Shah, a roads engineer, said crews have been working with Nepal’s army since the second day after the floods to reopen routes in affected areas.

Shah said bridges were being built to improve access to the worst-affected areas and make it easier to transport relief supplies. However, the work remains difficult, with more bad weather expected in the coming days, she noted.

“The upcoming few days are going to be very challenging because of the weather, but we are fully prepared for that as well,” she said.

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