Nepal-China Floods Kill 1,000
Flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border killed over 1,000 and left workers trapped.
The reporting
The death toll from the Aug. 26 flash floods along Nepal’s Rasuwa district and Tibet’s Gyirong County has surpassed 1,000, with more than 4,400 people still unaccounted for in Nepal and China. Nepal reported at least 1,050 deaths and China 16 as rescue teams used helicopters, dogs and temporary bridges to reach isolated valleys. About 600 people remain stuck at damaged hydropower sites, including workers feared trapped in tunnels flooded by the Trishuli River. Researchers say a glacier collapse and landslide sent water, ice, rock and mud downstream.
Analysis & opinion
Climate mountain riskMostly Left
Human-caused warming is making Himalayan mountain disasters more likely and more destructive. Nepal’s floods and glacial collapses should be treated as a warning that downstream communities across the region face escalating danger.
