Flash Floods Cause Havoc in Nepal and Tibet

• Over 390 killed in Nepal and Tibet, with more than 1,400 missing

• UN, World Bank, India, China and the U.S. have already Pledged Funds to Assist Nepal government

• I.S. Saluja

DEVIGHAT, Nepal (TIP): Emergency rescue teams scoured the Nepal-Tibet border on Thursday, August 27, in search of survivors of a devastating flash flood that hit the region the day before. In Nepal, at least 390 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 others remain missing, including around 700 foreigners, according to Nepali police. Local authorities expect the death toll to rise. On the Tibetan side, Chinese state media said at least three people have been killed and 558 others are missing, though it’s not clear if these numbers overlap with the Nepali figures.

Initial investigations indicate that an ice avalanche caused the torrential flood. Early Wednesday morning local time, a large chunk of ice broke off a glacier and fell into Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River, triggering heavy flooding. The landslide was so strong that seismologists first recorded it as an earthquake.

Scientists are unsure why the glacial collapse occurred, but many suspect that global warming could be to blame. Nepal’s mountain ranges lost nearly one-third of their ice in just the past three decades due to climate change, the United Nations reported in 2023. The tiny South Asian country sits wedged between two of the world’s largest carbon emitters: China and India.

Now, it’s a race against time to rescue as many people as possible before monsoon-fueled storms potentially hit the flood zone in the coming days. Beijing has also warned that Wednesday’s catastrophe created a large lake in Tibet that risks breaking through dammed streams and causing even more destruction.

Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, a Nepali Army spokesperson, confirmed on Thursday that the country’s military has rescued more than 100 people via helicopter operations. Chinese authorities have similarly deployed large military transport aircraft in Tibet to aid evacuation and relief efforts.

Yet search-and-rescue operations must also contend with several hurdles to reach survivors. Wednesday’s flood decimated many key bridges and roads, making access to some of the region’s more rural areas difficult. Scarce resources and a lack of electricity due to damaged hydropower infrastructure have further hampered these efforts, as locals are finding it near impossible to check on their loved ones.

Chinese authorities have also begun censoring video content of the flood on the country’s social media, making it difficult to know the scale of destruction in Tibet—a place already under extremely strict Chinese government restrictions under normal circumstances.

Videos of the disaster showed people running before the floodwaters swallowed them up and washed out buildings and bridges. More than 390 people were killed, according to authorities in Nepal and China, and more than 1,400 were missing, including hundreds of foreigners and pilgrims. Hundreds of others have been displaced across the Himalayan region.

The steep slopes and lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range — home to many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers — are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Melting glaciers have become more common because of human-caused climate change.

Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal’s hard-hit Nuwakot district slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Riverbanks and village streets were covered in mud. Debris hung from tree branches and wires. Vehicles were buried, and some stunned survivors were caked in mud.

Before-and-after images aired by state broadcaster China Central Television showed a multistory building and more than a dozen vehicles covered in mud. A two-lane road running along a river in a valley in Tibet’s Shigatse prefecture was completely buried. Aerial footage also showed that a lake had formed and expanded on the China-Nepal border, with authorities warning of a possible dam break.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the flooding was terrible to see, describing how “strong, well-built buildings were wiped out like they were toothpicks.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the U.S. spoke with Nepalese leaders and offered to provide “anything they want.”

The torrential floods that ran miles through mountains left at least 390 people dead and more than 460 injured in Nepal, according to police. Another 1400 people are reported to be missing in Nepal. Authorities in Tibet, an autonomous region of China, reported at least three dead and 558 missing.

Lila Pieters Yahia, the U.N. resident coordinator in Nepal, said Nepal’s government had mobilized over 30,000 security personnel for a massive search and rescue operation and “they’re working day and night.”

She told U.N. reporters in a video press conference from Kathmandu on Thursday that over 35 bridges have been destroyed and about 40 kilometers (25 miles) of road have been damaged, making access to the flooded area difficult.

“The government has established a relief fund and already the World Bank, India, China and the U.S. have committed to pledge $229 million to support,” Pieters Yahia said. The U.N. has given $2 million from its humanitarian relief fund for immediate assistance and Switzerland has given the U.N. $1 million, she said. The Nepalese army has rescued more than 100 people by helicopter, army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said. Army teams also evacuated people trapped inside facilities linked to the Trishuli hydropower project, he added.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, said the agency has shifted its focus from rescue to large-scale relief operations in the flood-hit districts. He said that around 1,200 people were displaced from at least three villages.

In Tibet, the roaring mudslide that struck Wednesday engulfed a multistory port building and swallowed a bus parking lot at the land border crossing of Gyirong Port. Mud left in the surrounding areas was more than 1½ meters (5 feet) deep on average, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Roads leading to the crossing were all damaged, while secondary collapses or landslides might occur as rain continued in the area, it added.

China’s premier, Li Qiang, arrived Thursday in Gyirong to direct rescue efforts, alongside 500 military and paramilitary personnel. Military helicopters circled overhead, searching for survivors, assessing the disaster and mapping out possible rescue and evacuation routes.

Chinese authorities also warned that the newly formed lake at the confluence of the Tsogyal and the Purupqiangzangbu rivers is overflowing and may burst. The lake contained 2 million cubic meters (70 million cubic feet) of water as of Thursday morning and was expected to receive another 3 million cubic meters (106 million cubic feet) in the next three days, China’s Ministry of Water Resources said.

The ministry warned there was a high risk the dam could fail, causing further flooding.

The United Nations’ humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, announced Thursday on X that he ordered the release of $2 million from the U.N.’s Central Emergency Response Fund to help with medical care, shelter and water. He called the floods “horrifying.”

“We pledge to support national efforts to deliver emergency aid and support,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters.

They include 178 people from India, more than 60 from the U.S. and people from 30 other countries, including Ukraine, the U.K., South Africa and Japan, the board said.

Many of the missing may have been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.

Seventy-seven people from one pilgrimage group were caught in the floods at the immigration office at the border, according to a post on X from Indian spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

A visibly emotional Sadhguru said in a video that the group included 22 Americans and others from various countries. He said that there was no official information on their whereabouts.

The U.S. State Department said 90 Americans were unaccounted for in China and Nepal after the flood. The department said it was unaware of any U.S. deaths and that three Americans had been rescued.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday that 288 of the country’s people, including some workers on a power project, were missing.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said that nearly 100 Chinese citizens were missing in Nepal. According to preliminary information, 260 of those missing in Tibet were foreigners, he said.

A glacier collapse may have caused floods.
The U.S. Geological Survey first reported a magnitude 4.4 earthquake early Wednesday, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Kathmandu, near the border.

The agency later updated its analysis to say the seismic event was instead a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse that sent debris flowing downstream.

Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development said an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday’s flash flood.

In an emailed statement, they said water levels at one point on the Trishuli River rose by as much as 9 meters (27 feet) in half an hour.

The increasingly unstable Himalayan ice system threatens communities, infrastructure and water supplies across one of the world’s most densely populated regions.

The region saw similar flash floods in August 2025, when a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed because of high temperatures. Nine people were killed, and critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China, was damaged.

(With input from agencies)