4 minWorld
Nepal-Tibet floods kill at least 98 as searches widen
Authorities in Nepal and China are searching for hundreds of missing people after flash floods devastated a Himalayan border corridor and cut roads, power and communications.
Authorities in Nepal and China expanded search operations Wednesday after flash floods devastated a Himalayan border corridor, killing at least 98 people and leaving hundreds missing on both sides of the frontier.
Nepal’s prime minister’s office reported 95 deaths, while Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said three people had died in Gyirong County in Tibet. Nepalese officials said 403 people were unaccounted for in Nepal, including 341 foreign nationals. CCTV reported 265 missing in the Tibetan border county. The totals rose repeatedly during the day as rescue teams reached more affected areas.
The disaster cut through settlements in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts and struck the cross-border transport zone around Gyirong. Images from the area showed homes surrounded by mud, vehicles displaced and roads overwhelmed by debris. Bridges, communications links and power infrastructure were also damaged, complicating the movement of rescue teams.
The missing include tourists and pilgrims as well as local residents and workers. The Nepal Tourism Board was coordinating with tour operators and authorities to identify travelers who could not be contacted. The region is a gateway for journeys toward Mount Kailash in Tibet, and the flood struck during a period of heavy travel.
Nepal mobilized the army, police and emergency personnel. China launched rescue operations on its side of the border. In some locations, high water and unstable ground limited helicopter landings, forcing crews to wait for conditions to improve or approach by damaged roads.
Officials also ordered residents in lower-lying river areas to move to safer ground. The warning reflected concern that debris could still be blocking water upstream. If a temporary natural dam fails, a second surge can move rapidly through the same channel before communities have recovered from the first flood.
Investigators have not reached a final conclusion on what initiated the disaster. Preliminary analysis cited by Nepalese disaster authorities and scientists points to an ice-and-rock or snow-and-rock avalanche in the Lhende river basin. The avalanche may have blocked the river and then released a large volume of water and debris. Researchers said the trigger for the avalanche itself remains uncertain.
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded in the broader area shortly before the flood. Officials and scientists are examining the timing, but the available evidence does not establish that the earthquake caused the avalanche. That remains one of several questions for geologists and disaster agencies.
The flood also affected a significant share of Nepal’s power system. The energy ministry said roughly 430 megawatts of hydropower capacity had been affected, more than 12% of national hydropower capacity. Damage to plants, access roads and transmission infrastructure could extend the consequences beyond the immediate emergency.
The Himalayan border region faced another serious Bhote Koshi flood last year, later linked to the drainage of a supraglacial lake. The two events should not be assumed to have the same cause, but the recurrence has focused attention on monitoring ice, lakes, unstable slopes and river blockages in a rapidly changing mountain environment.
Search operations will remain the priority as authorities reconcile lists of residents, workers and travelers. The death toll and missing-person counts are likely to change as communications return and rescuers reach communities that were cut off by Wednesday’s flooding.
