101 Dead in Nepal Floods After Relentless Monsoon Rains

AFP/APP

Kathmandu: Low-lying neighbourhoods in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, were inundated by surging floodwaters on Sunday after ferocious monsoon rains that police said had killed at least 101 people across the Himalayan republic.

Deadly rain-related floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.

Large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday, with flash floods reported in several rivers and extensive damage to the country’s highways.

“The death toll has reached 101, and 64 people are missing,” police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP. “There is likely to be an increase in the death toll as our search and rescue mission proceeds in the affected areas,” he added.

The Kathmandu valley recorded 240 millimetres (9.4 inches) of rain in the 24 hours leading up to Saturday morning, according to the country’s weather bureau, which spoke to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. It was the highest rainfall recorded in the capital since at least 1970, the report said.

The Bagmati River and its numerous tributaries, which cut through Kathmandu, broke their banks, inundating nearby homes and vehicles. Residents waded through chest-deep water to reach higher ground, with nearly 3,300 people rescued by relief teams as of Sunday morning.

More than 3,000 security personnel were deployed to assist rescue efforts, utilizing helicopters and motorboats. Rescue teams were using rafts to pull survivors to safety.

Landslides have blocked several highways connecting the capital to the rest of the country, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded. “We have around eight locations; all of them have been blocked due to landslides in different sections of the road,” Kathmandu traffic police officer Bishwaraj Khadka said on Saturday.

Domestic flights have resumed in and out of Kathmandu after weather forced a complete stoppage from Friday evening, resulting in more than 150 cancellations.

The summer monsoon brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall. Monsoon rains from June to September cause widespread death and destruction every year across South Asia, but the number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years.

Experts say climate change has worsened their frequency and intensity.

A landslide that hit a road in Chitwan district in July pushed two buses with 59 passengers aboard into a river. Three people were able to escape alive, but authorities managed to recover only 20 bodies from the accident, with raging floodwaters impeding the search.

More than 260 people have died in Nepal in rain-related disasters this year.