At least 101 people have died and 64 others are missing in Nepal, in floods and landslides caused by torrential rains, according to a new report announced by the police on Sunday September 29. The capital, Kathmandu, is particularly affected.
The previous police report on Saturday reported at least 59 dead and 44 missing. “It is likely that the toll will rise as our search and rescue mission progresses in the affected areas”police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told Agence France-Presse.
The Kathmandu Valley recorded 240 millimeters of rain in 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning, the Nepal Meteorological Agency told the newspaper Kathmandu Post. This is the heaviest rainfall recorded in the Nepalese capital since at least 1970, according to this agency.
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Authorities had warned of flash flooding in several rivers when the bad weather began. Kathmandu’s rivers overflowed, flooding homes near the banks.
More frequent flooding
“It’s scary. I have never seen such devastation.”confided Saturday Mahamad Shabuddin, 34, owner of a motorcycle repair workshop, very close to the swollen Bagmati River. 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.
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