Flash Flood Kills Eight in Nepal; China Evacuates

A massive flash flood swept away villages in Nepal's Himalayan north on Wednesday, killing at least eight people and wrecking roads, bridges and power projects near the Tibetan border, authorities said.

Across the border, China's official Xinhua news agency reported "major casualties" with some people missing in Gyirong county after a mudslide struck a land crossing between the two countries.

The flooding lands as southern China is already reeling from Typhoon Narra, which forced the relocation of 54,000 people in the Guangxi region, and as a second storm, Typhoon Saudel, tracks toward Japan and Taiwan.

What happened in Nepal

The flood hit Rasuwa, a mountainous district north of Kathmandu on the Tibetan border with a population of about 50,000, according to Reuters and the BBC. The worst-hit areas were Syapru Besi and Timure.

Nepal sent helicopters to the rescue, but the water was too high for them to land, officials said. Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said the aircraft would not be able to set down until the waters recede.

District administrator Narendra Pariyar urged people living along the banks of the Bhote Koshi river to move to higher ground, citing reports that villages and infrastructure project sites had been washed away.

"There could be heavy casualties or loss of property," Pariyar told Reuters. "But I cannot say for sure now."

A witness quoted by the Onlinekhabar portal described the moment the water arrived: "It all came suddenly. We heard a loud sound, like a volcano erupting. People started to scream and ran away."

Nepal's energy ministry said 430 megawatts of electricity supply were affected, mostly from hydroelectric projects. That is more than 12% of the country's total hydropower capacity of 3.2 gigawatts, according to a Reuters calculation.

The cause of the inundation was not immediately clear. A deadly flash flood on the same river last year was eventually traced to the draining of a supraglacial lake in Tibet, a regional climate monitor said at the time.