Nepalis pray for miracles as over 1,000 still missing after flash floods

Loknath Chaulagain is searching for his 23-year-old nephew, Sudarshan, at Tribhuvan University Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. Sudarshan, a bus helper, was waiting at a checkpoint in Timure, a town bordering Tibet, when the flash floods devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday (August 26). The family says a call was made to Sudarshan's phone at 9:54 a.m. local time—after the floods hit the border area—but he did not answer. Since then, his phone has been unreachable.

The family has searched the flood-hit areas and now the hospitals in Kathmandu, where some survivors have been taken. But so far, there is no news. They are not alone. Thousands of families across Nepal remain caught between hope and fear: hope for a miracle that may not come, and the fear of losing loved ones.

Two days after the flash floods swept away everything in their path along the Bhotekoshi River in the northern Himalayas bordering Tibet, the full scale of the damage is still not fully known in Nepal. The death toll is rising, with nearly 500 bodies recovered. The number of missing has exceeded 1,000 and is expected to rise further.

The wall of water, ice, and mud that surged down on August 26 caused the most severe damage in Timure, Rasuwagadhi, and Syabrubesi in the Rasuwa district, near the border checkpoints with Tibet. Downstream, the floodwaters swept away houses, power lines, bridges, markets, and vehicles along the way in the Trishuli and Nuwakot areas.

The usually bustling Trishuli market is now covered in mud and debris. Local residents, including many Indians who have lived in the area for years, pleaded with rescue workers to take them to their destroyed homes by bulldozer to search for anything left in the rubble.

Helicopters were operating nonstop on Wednesday and Thursday, trying to rescue those trapped under debris or swept away and stranded in dangerous conditions. Those with minor injuries were treated at a medical station at the army camp's helicopter pad, while the seriously injured were airlifted to larger medical facilities in Kathmandu.

At Tribhuvan University Hospital, people have been posting posters on walls with photos and contact information of missing relatives. The hospital's pillars bear lists of those admitted, in critical condition, or who have died: Ishara Tamang, 5 years old, pediatric surgery ward; Tej Bhadur Tamang, 30 years old, ICU; Kusal Magar, 25, male, listed as dead. Many anxious eyes are glued to these lists, hoping to find their missing loved ones.

Among them is Sohan, a young man who declined to be interviewed. He is looking for his father, Gyan Bahadur Rana Magar, 42. “It's been three days, we are still searching and trying to find him,” he said. His father worked as a guide for Indian tourists visiting Rasuwa, the district bordering Tibet and one of the hardest-hit areas.

When the lists on the pillars offer no answers, those searching for relatives head to the mortuary, where photos of some recovered bodies have been posted at the gate. Many bodies are mutilated; some are missing limbs. When someone recognizes an acquaintance, they inform security staff, who let them in to identify the body.

Wearing a red sari and blouse, with a traditional 'pothe' bead necklace—a type of glass bead necklace worn by married women in Nepal—Lal Kumari is desperately searching for her husband, Arjun Shreshtha. A tour driver in his late 40s, he was swept away by the floods in Rasuwa district. Kumari has three children, including a married daughter and a grandchild. Her only question: Is her husband, by some miracle, still alive?