Nepal Warns of New Floods; Toll Hits 788

Nepal's government warned of possible fresh flooding Sunday and told residents of flood-hit districts to stay on high alert after water levels rose in the Bhotekoshi River.

Flood warnings went out to people's phones early Sunday while rescue crews worked to clear a major highway linking Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday's catastrophic floods.

Those floods killed at least 800 people and left more than 3,000 missing across Nepal and Tibet, according to figures reported by the Associated Press.

The Upstream Risk

Chinese state news agency Xinhua, citing the country's water resources ministry, reported that a new lake formed high in the mountains by Wednesday's floods has largely drained.

But the ministry warned that a crater 3.5 miles upstream, holding an estimated 1.4 million cubic meters of water, still poses some risk and needs close monitoring.

On the Ground

In Dhading, one of Nepal's worst-hit regions, residents returned Sunday to ruined homes, shoveling mud and rubble off balconies and window frames and rinsing off whatever they could pull from the sludge. One man came back for his chickens, found them alive, tied them up and put them in his truck cab.

"Everything is finished. Nothing is left. Not even our home," Dhading resident Sharmila Tamang told the Associated Press.

Homes and businesses that survived the water were still without electricity Sunday, with power poles and lines tangled in the mud. Workers began inspecting a badly damaged power plant that serves more than 20,000 people across four districts.

Large concrete and suspension bridges were destroyed, cutting off communities on the far side of the river. "Those who are there are now stuck there. Those who are here are stuck here. It's going to be very difficult," said Sattan Singh Tamang, 47, who was working near a bridge when Wednesday's floods hit.