More Than 1,300 People Missing in Flash Floods in Nepal and Tibet

In Nepal, 826 people are listed as missing and the death toll from flash floods in the country has risen to 165, the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority announced today.

Rescue teams are searching for survivors in the border area between Nepal and China after a surge of water and mud the previous day caused by a glacier collapse.

Chinese state media reported today that at least three people were killed in the border floods in Tibet, and that 558 are missing, of whom 260 are foreigners, while two locals have been rescued.

Drone footage in Nepal shows destroyed roads and buildings buried under water the color of wet cement.

Steep valleys are important for the economy as they serve as transport corridors but are dangerous when disaster strikes. Footage shows the second floors of buildings in the heavily affected Nuwakot district in Nepal covered in mud after the torrent passed. Vehicles are buried, and some survivors can be seen covered in mud. Floods have halted travel in some areas.

Among the missing in Nepal are 133 Indian nationals who were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet.

Also missing are 47 U.S. citizens, 34 from Australia, 33 Britons, and 24 Canadians, according to officials.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters today that at least 34 Australians who were on pilgrimages or hiking are listed as missing.

The Nepalese government has not yet requested assistance, but Australia is coordinating with Nepal, the UN, the Red Cross, and other organizations regarding the humanitarian response, Wong said.

The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs today increased the number of its missing citizens in Kathmandu to 55, stating that severe disruptions to infrastructure are hampering efforts to contact them.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported a 4.4 magnitude earthquake early Wednesday about 66 kilometers west of Kathmandu, near the border. The institute later updated its analysis, stating that the magnitude was 5.2 from the glacier collapse, which triggered downstream movement with catastrophic impact on communities. It noted that based on data from surrounding seismic stations, no earthquake occurred.

Climate experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, based in Kathmandu, said that an avalanche from a glacier most likely caused yesterday’s flash floods.

“Hydrological monitoring indicates an exceptional speed and magnitude of the flood wave,” they said in a statement, noting that water levels in the Trishuli River rose by as much as nine meters in half an hour at one point.

They said that the Lende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi River, was flooded.

“Lende Khola has caused floods twice in 14 months, this time triggered by an avalanche of ice rocks from glaciers on the Nepalese side of the border that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,” said climate research expert Saswatga Sanjal.

He pointed to the importance of early warning in a situation where “the Himalayas are warming.”

Investigators in Kathmandu earlier this year found that glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region are melting faster, and that rates of ice loss have doubled since 2000. The threat from melting glaciers has become a global problem, AP reports.

Disasters in Nepal and Tibet are not a one-time occurrence; the Lende Khola river system has caused floods twice in the past 14 months, and the increasingly unstable ice system of the Himalayas threatens communities, infrastructure, and water supply in one of the most densely populated regions of the world.

Similar flash floods occurred in the area in August last year when a glacial lake overflowed due to high temperatures. Nine people were killed and critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China, was damaged.