Head Teacher Evacuates 900 Students Minutes Before Nepal Floods Devastate School
At 09:10 local time (03:25 GMT), Rajendra Dawadi, the head teacher of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, received a cascade of urgent calls warning that a catastrophic flood was imminent. Within minutes he ordered a school‑wide evacuation—sending 900 pupils and staff to higher ground—just before the waters surged through the campus.
The decision came after four separate callers—families and residents—reporting massive flooding in the valley. One parent, who dreaded sufficient danger to personally bring his daughter, emphasized that “parents don’t rush unless there is a strong reason.” Dawadi’s prompt judgment proved critical; nearer the flood, the makeshift hostel and adjacent school buildings were quickly engulfed by mud.
Students and teachers initially underestimated the peril, as they were mid‑lesson when the flood began. “We were in class, then the teachers told us to leave and just about 10 seconds later we were rushing uphill,” recalled 16‑year‑old Yunisha Amatya. She and her friends scrambled up a narrow ladder behind the school, witnessing the local market get swept away.
After the evacuation, many moved only a few hundred metres uphill, but a blocked road left them stranded for two nights before rescue teams could reach them. The principal and Yunisha were airlifted back to their home village two days later.
The flood left at least 794 people dead and over 2,426 missing, littering the valley with mud and debris. Dawadi reflects, “If we had delayed even ten minutes, I doubt any of us would be speaking to you today.” He calls for improved siren systems and official evacuation protocols to help future communities respond even faster.
Painted in the immediate aftermath were faces full of fear and relief alike: Yunisha’s mother had been desperately calling for months without success; her father finally spoke to her only after nearly a day. The tragedy of the day, however, underscores a life‑saving narrative of proactive leadership and the narrow margin between survival and loss.
