Nepal issues fresh flood alert as water levels rise across several districts, death toll nears 1,000

Nepal's disaster authorities issued a fresh flood alert, warning residents in several districts to remain on high alert after water levels rose sharply in rivers and streams, even as the death toll from last week's catastrophic floods climbed close to 1,000.

The fresh alert came even as Nepal continued to reel from the devastation caused by last Wednesday's flash floods, triggered by a glacial collapse high in the Himalayas. According to an update from the NDRRMA on Tuesday, the death toll in Nepal had risen to 987, while the number of missing had fallen to 3,916. So far, 11,814 people have been rescued, the disaster agency said.

Also read: Nepal floods expose risks to hydropower in a warming Himalayas


Chinese authorities have reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on their side of the border in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nearly 550 foreigners remained unaccounted for in Nepal, officials said, with the missing drawn from more than two dozen countries, including 288 Indians, 63 Americans, 51 Malaysians, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians.

Officials said rescuers were racing to search hydropower tunnels in the affected region, with hundreds of workers still unaccounted for. Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said about 350 workers and residents had been brought to safety from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project, while efforts continued to rescue more than 100 people still trapped at the same site.

Authorities have also begun mass burials of unidentified flood victims as identification efforts continue, with 96 unidentified bodies buried on Saturday and plans to bury more than 100 others.

The floods, which struck on August 26, have been described as one of the deadliest disasters in the region in recent years. The disaster began when an avalanche of ice, stones and mud cascaded through narrow valleys along the Nepal-Tibet border after a high-altitude mountain collapse, tearing through the Lhende Khola river system near the Nepal-China border. Authorities have confirmed that flood warnings remain in effect for communities along rivers in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Nawalparasi and Chitwan districts.

Also read: India evacuates 158 from flood-hit Nepal, steps up rescue and relief operations

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the fresh warning came after water levels in the Bhotekoshi river rose again, and urged all concerned to take precautionary measures. Nepal police had earlier asked rescue teams to move to safety after reports that a dam on the Tibetan side had burst again, though Chinese authorities later said the renewed flood threat in Gyirong had eased.

A dammed lake that formed upstream after the initial disaster remained a concern for rescue teams. The lake held an estimated 2 million cubic metres of water and was already overflowing, with another 3 million cubic metres expected to flow in over three days, raising the risk of a breach. Chinese state media said peak flow was expected around September 1.

The education ministry has said at least 20 schools sustained damage in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, while floodwaters in some areas reached settlements as high as 80 metres above normal river levels.

On the Indian side, a 19-member forensics team began functioning in Kathmandu on Sunday to assist with DNA analysis for victim identification, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. India has also sent a second consignment of 37.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including HADR material, medicines and food packets, which was handed over to Nepal's science and technology minister Mahabir Pun. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have separately been placed on alert for possible flash flooding, with about 5,000 people evacuated in Bihar.

Residents in the worst-hit villages have said they are struggling to make sense of the near-constant flood warnings issued since the initial disaster.