Nepal on high alert for fresh flooding after river levels rise as death toll soars past 800

Residents in flood-affected districts in Nepal were warned to remain on high alert for possible fresh flooding as rescuers scrambled to clear a major highway connecting Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday’s catastrophic floods.

Nepal’s disaster agency said Sunday the death toll had climbed to 788 with 2,502 missing, while Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on the Chinese side of the border.

The latest flood warning notices were sent to people’s phones early Sunday after water levels rose in the Bhotekoshi River. Chinese authorities informed their Nepalese counterparts of increased water flow upstream, according to Dharam Raj Uprety, chief executive of Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Residents of the flood-hit villages said they were struggling to make sense of near-constant alarms they’ve received since the initial floods.

“Sometimes they say a flood is coming, then we have to run again to higher ground, even at night. There is also rain,” said Govind Shreshta, a resident. “It’s really difficult for me. I have a 72-year-old father and 70-year-old mom. I must carry them and I am exhausted. It’s going on like this for those who are still alive.”

In Dhading, one of the worst-hit regions in Nepal, some residents began returning to ruined homes to see what can be salvaged.

Residents sat in homes with walls washed away by the floods, shoveling sludge-like mud and rubble off balconies or window frames. Others scanned the ground for items they could pick out of the mud and rinse off. One man had returned for his chickens, which he found alive. He tied them up and put them in the cabin of his truck.

“Everything is finished. Nothing is left. Not even our home,” Sharmila Tamang, a Dhading resident who was trying to salvage items from her home, told The Associated Press.

At a key power plant that was severely damaged by the floods, workers started inspecting the facilities Sunday to survey the destruction. The plant serves over 20,000 people across four districts.

The missing include hundreds of people from over a dozen countries who were in the region to work, visit the mountains or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak. On Sunday, Chinese state media said 261 foreigners were missing in Tibet, including over a hundred Nepalis and others from around the world.

Wednesday’s flash floods started after a glacial collapse high in the Himalayan region. Scientists who studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it. The rockfall was so extreme that it registered as magnitude 5.2.

The rocks and melted water then swelled the rivers in the valleys below, causing a torrent of water that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.

Nepal’s foreign minister called for a global response to climate change, saying Nepal was bearing a disproportionate share of its impact.

“Despite having only 0.1% contribution to the global emissions, people of Nepal have become major victims of climate change,” Shisir Khanal said Saturday.

Scientists have said it is too early to draw a direct connection between global warming and Wednesday’s catastrophe. However, they said that as Earth’s temperature rises because of human activities such as burning oil, gas and coal, the chances of such disasters increase, especially in the Himalayan mountains, which are warming considerably faster than many other parts of the world.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Sunday that his country will send a search-and-rescue team to Nepal to assist with relief efforts and help evacuate Malaysians affected by the disaster.

Malaysia has also pledged $1 million in financial aid to Nepal, he said in a statement.