Nepal flood leaves border district counting losses as roads and power lines fail

A flash flood in Nepal’s northern borderlands has once again turned a mountain district into a rescue zone and an accounting exercise. In Rasuwa, near Tibet, at least eight people were killed and roads, bridges and power projects were damaged after torrents of water swept through villages. The first number is grim enough; the final one may be worse, because disasters rarely stop at the first tally.

Authorities sent helicopters to the area, but the water was too high for them to land in Syapru Besi and Timure, both in the mountainous district of about 50,000 people. District administrator Narendra Pariyar said there could be heavy casualties and loss of property, though he could not say for certain how severe the damage would be. He urged people living along the Bhote Koshi River to move to higher ground after reports that nearby villages and infrastructure project sites had been washed away.

The Nepal Army said it had deployed helicopters and disaster response personnel to the affected area, and that work to collect details of the damage was under way. Prime Minister Balendra Shah also posted on social media that he had convened an emergency meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, and said steps were being taken in coordination with the medical team, scouts and the Red Cross. Videos shared by Nepal Police and others showed muddy water crashing through mountain valleys, while several highways were closed.

The flood also hit the power sector hard. The Nepal Electricity Authority said about 430 megawatts of production capacity had been damaged, including hydropower and solar facilities. It said production, transmission and distribution facilities had been hit, disrupting electricity supply. In a country where infrastructure already has enough enemies, the flood did the obvious thing and attacked the roads, the bridges and the grid at once.

Across the border, Tibet reported major casualties and missing people in the neighbouring county of Gyirong after a mudslide hit a land crossing between China and Nepal, according to Xinhua, the official news agency. Xinhua said the mudslide cut roads, communications and power in the Shigatse region, without giving further details. President Xi Jinping urged all-out efforts to search for the missing and called for stronger monitoring and early warning systems to prevent secondary disasters.

The Bhote Koshi River, which originates in Tibet and flows into Nepal’s Trishuli River before eventually reaching India as the Gandak River, has a history of trouble. A flood last year on the same river killed nine people, left 24 missing and washed away the Friendship Bridge linking Nepal and China, disrupting transport and trade for months. That flood was triggered by the draining of a supraglacial lake in Tibet, according to a regional climate monitor.

Monsoon rains from June to September regularly trigger deadly floods and landslides across South Asia. Scientists say climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and more intense. Nepal is left with the less glamorous work of clearing roads, restoring power and trying to find out how many people the water has taken.

Written by Christiane Hofreiter christiane.hofreiter@alpineweekly.com