Nepal Floods Sweep Away Homes, Bridges Amidst Festival Preparations

Fresh floods surged along the Budhi Gandaki River in Nepal's central Gorkha district on Sunday, washing away houses, suspension bridges, and damaging a part of a hydropower station. The army confirmed the rescue of approximately 50 people stranded along the riverbank. While no fatalities have been reported, five individuals remain missing.

The inundation occurred as communities were preparing to observe the Dashain festival, a significant occasion in the Nepali calendar. Families have been displaced from their homes, facing uncertainty regarding shelter and essential supplies.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that about a dozen houses and several bridges were destroyed. Construction equipment from a hydroelectric project was also carried away by the floodwaters. Officials noted a rapid increase in the river's water levels, rising from two meters to nearly 8.5 meters within a few hours at one location. A meteorological station was swept away, halting data collection from that site.

Experts suggest this debris flow was smaller and slower than the catastrophic floods experienced less than two months prior, which affected border towns with Tibet and resulted in over 1,400 deaths and thousands of missing persons. The cause of Sunday's flood remains unclear, with theories ranging from a landslide damming the river to an ice-avalanche upstream.

Save the Children is mobilizing an emergency response team. Tara Chettry, the charity's director in Nepal, stated that the scale of the damage is still being assessed but acknowledged that many children may have lost their homes, schools, and communities. She noted that children in Gorkha are likely still experiencing shock and distress from the earlier major floods in August.

The Budhi Gandaki River is a tributary of the Trishuli River. The previous disaster was caused by a glacier collapse in a tributary downstream.