“The death toll is 101 and 64 people are missing this morning,” police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP. “It is likely that the toll will rise as our search and rescue mission progresses in the affected areas,” he added. The previous police report on Saturday reported at least 59 dead and 44 missing.
The Kathmandu Valley recorded 240 millimeters of rain over 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning, the Nepalese meteorological agency told the Kathmandu Post newspaper. This is the heaviest rainfall recorded in the Nepalese capital since at least 1970, according to this agency.
Faced with heavy rainfall, authorities warned of flash floods in several rivers.
Refugees on the roofs
Kathmandu’s rivers overflowed, flooding homes near the banks. “It’s scary. I’ve never seen such devastation,” Mahamad Shabuddin, 34, owner of a motorcycle repair shop near the swollen Bagmati River, said on Saturday. Some survivors took refuge on the roofs of buildings, others fled through the muddy water.
Monsoons from June to September cause death and destruction across South Asia each year, but the number of deadly floods and landslides has increased in recent years.
Experts say climate change has worsened their frequency and intensity. More than 220 people have died this year in Nepal in rain-related natural disasters.
