The death toll from catastrophic flash floods that tore through Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts more than a week ago has passed 1,250, with more than 4,200 people still unaccounted for, in what is now the country's deadliest disaster since the 2015 earthquake.
Nepali authorities put the confirmed toll at 1,252 dead and 4,216 missing as of Wednesday, though the count has climbed daily and inconsistently as rescue teams reach valleys that were cut off when the flooding destroyed roads and 48 suspension bridges, at least 28 of which officials say will need to be rebuilt entirely. China's state broadcaster has separately reported 16 dead and more than 540 missing on the Tibetan side of the border, where the same flooding struck.
The disaster began August 26, when what officials believe was a glacial lake outburst or landslide sent a wall of water and debris down the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems, wiping out settlements across a roughly 45-mile stretch and destroying the Gyirong Port crossing between Nepal and China. More than 21,000 security personnel have been mobilized in the search, and Nepal's government says over 10,000 people have been rescued so far, including more than 250 foreign nationals; dozens of foreign tourists and crews from a hydropower project swept away when the river surged remain among the missing.
Shifting from rescue to rebuilding
Nepal has declared a flood emergency in 15 municipalities and released 1 billion rupees, about $6.5 million, for reconstruction. "We are moving forward from search, rescue and relief distribution to rehabilitation after the devastating flood," Prime Minister Balendra Shah said this week. The United Nations estimates 65,000 people now need emergency water and sanitation support, and UNICEF has flagged more than 2,600 children under five for severe malnutrition treatment amid damage to at least 19 schools, nine of them destroyed outright.
With the monsoon season not yet over and many riverbank communities still without safe housing, aid officials warn the humanitarian response will likely outlast the search for the missing by months, even as Kathmandu shifts its public focus toward rebuilding roads, bridges and the hydropower plants that anchor the local economy.
