Formal search and rescue has ended in the Bhote Koshi–Trishuli River valley of northern Nepal, where the Nepal–Tibet floods have become the country's deadliest disaster since the 2015 earthquake. As of October 5, Reuters reported 1,455 people dead, 9,287 injured and 5,285 still missing in Nepal, with another 43 dead and 519 missing across the border in Tibet. Hundreds of foreign tourists and pilgrims are among the missing, and the government has declared the affected area a disaster zone for three months.
The disaster began at about 8:37 a.m. on August 26, when a rock-ice avalanche off the Langtang Lirung massif became a debris flow and flash flood that ran roughly 70–100 kilometres down the valley. The US Geological Survey first logged the event as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake, then reclassified the signal as a landslide and glacier collapse equivalent to magnitude 5.2. The Trishuli River rose by up to 9 metres in 30 minutes, hitting Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan districts, and Gyirong Port on the China border was buried. The toll rose steadily as crews reached isolated villages, from 389 on August 28 to 1,344 by September 5.
The damage is vast. About 7,570 houses were destroyed, 12 hydropower projects were damaged, some with workers trapped in their tunnels, and 68 suspension bridges and 41 road bridges were damaged. Nepal puts the damage at more than US$1.8 billion and its recovery needs at about US$4.7 billion. The government deployed 21,465 security personnel to the response, and Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority counted 13,784 people rescued across eight districts as of September 21.
International support is now turning toward recovery. The IFRC, part of the Red Cross Movement, released about CHF 1 million from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund and launched Emergency Appeal MDRNP022, seeking CHF 18 million, while the UN Central Emergency Response Fund gave $2 million and the Loss and Damage Fund $20 million. Direct Relief has delivered 21.5 tons of medical aid and $125,000 in grants, and Samaritan's Purse reports an 85,000-pound relief airlift and help for more than 3,000 families. All Hands and Hearts is working in Nuwakot and Gorkha, including on school rebuilding, and International Medical Corps, Operation Blessing and Global Empowerment Mission are also responding. More groups are listed in our list of disaster relief organizations.
To support survivors as they rebuild, visit the Nepal–Tibet Floods disaster page for donation links to the organizations working on the ground.
