Floods in Nepal: death toll rises to 148, 59 missing

(Keystone-ATS) At least 148 people have died and 59 are missing in Nepal, following floods and landslides caused by heavy rains, particularly in the capital Kathmandu, according to a new official report announced on Sunday

Large parts of the east and center of the Himalayan country have been flooded since Friday, as have entire neighborhoods of Kathmandu. Rivers experienced flash floods, causing widespread damage and loss of life.

The Nepalese national authority responsible for disaster risk reduction revised the human toll upwards on Sunday: now 148 dead and 59 missing. A previous count showing 126 dead and 63 missing.

Because at least 36 of the people killed were on board three vehicles and were buried alive when a landslide hit a highway south of Kathmandu, the spokesperson for the police told AFP on Sunday. Nepalese police Dan Bahadur Karki.

Record over 50 years old

More than 3,000 people are deployed to participate in rescue operations using helicopters, motor boats or inflatable boats.

“More than 3,000 people have been rescued” in the country, said Interior Ministry spokesperson Rishi Ram Tiwari.

He told AFP that bulldozers were being used to clear several highways blocked by debris, cutting Kathmandu off from the rest of the country.

The Kathmandu Valley recorded 240 millimeters of rain in 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 rains, the authorities warned against flash floods in rivers.

Those in Kathmandu overflowed, flooding houses and vehicles near the banks.

Cut your roof

Kumar Tamang, who lives in a slum, told AFP that he and his family had to flee during the night from Friday to Saturday when water rushed into their hut.

“This morning (Sunday) we came back and everything is different,” said the 40-year-old. “We couldn’t even open the doors of our house, they were blocked by mud.”

“Yesterday we were afraid that the water would kill us, but today we no longer have water to clean,” he lamented.

Bishnu Maya Shrestha, who lives in another flooded district of Kathmandu, told AFP that she had to cut the roof off her house to escape the floods.

“We jumped from one roof to another to get to safety and eventually boats came to our aid.”

Domestic flights resumed on Sunday morning to and from Kathmandu, after being completely suspended since Friday evening due to the weather situation. More than 150 departures have been canceled.

Climate change

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.

In July, a landslide on a road in Chitwan district (center) threw two buses with 59 passengers on board into a river. Three people were able to escape alive, but the authorities were only able to recover 20 bodies, a flood hampering the search.