In brief
A sudden flood on the Budhi Gandaki River in Nepal’s Gorkha district swept away more than 200 homes and several suspension bridges, while damaging a hydropower project. Army helicopters rescued 95 people, including nine foreigners, but five remain missing. Local authorities report that water levels rose from 2 m to 8.5 m in just a few hours, and a related in‑fall of construction equipment was also reported. The disaster comes weeks after a larger flood event along the Nepal‑Tibet border that killed more than 1,400 people. Experts say that the increasing severity of such floods may be linked to rapid glacier melt caused by climate change.
A sudden surge of water along the Budhi Gandaki River in central Nepal’s Gorkha district has obliterated hundreds of homes, collapsed several suspension bridges and damaged a hydropower construction site, authorities say.
Army helicopters rescued 95 people, including nine foreigners, from the river’s banks, while five residents are still missing. No casualties have been reported, but the scale of damage is staggering: more than 200 homes were destroyed and over 650 people were affected, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority explained.
Local residents were forced into the nearest forest uphill after receiving early warning calls, recounting how the water rushed in with a force that left them trembling and unsure of when to return home. The flood also took down a hydropower plant’s construction equipment, which was swept downstream.
The flood’s water level surged from 2 m (around 6 ft) to nearly 8.5 m (about 27 ft) in a matter of hours, with one hydrological station reportedly destroyed and now out of service. Experts say the event was a rapid debris‑flow, smaller than the August disaster, but still devastating.
Speculation about the flood’s cause includes a potential landslide that briefly blocked the river and released water, or an upstream ice avalanche. The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli, which had recently suffered a glacier collapse that triggered multi‑day floods along the Nepal‑Tibet border, claiming over 1,400 lives.
Save the Children is on the ground, mobilizing emergency teams to support children and communities that have lost homes, schools and infrastructure. Tara Chettry, the charity’s director in Nepal, warned of the compounded trauma experienced by children who already endured the August floods.
Climate change experts argue that accelerating glacier melt is heightening the risk of such events, placing vulnerable Himalayan communities in greater jeopardy. While authorities are debating the way forward, the immediate focus remains on rescue, relief, and rebuilding for those displaced by the sudden deluge.
