Massive floods and mudslides that swept through mountain valleys along the Nepal-China border have left thousands missing, families frantic for information and rescue teams racing against time and more rain.
Nepalese authorities say roughly 2,400 people remain unaccounted for after last week’s catastrophic flash floods. Four days after walls of water—reports described some waves as nearly 30 feet high—officials had recovered 734 bodies. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates more than 90,000 people were affected.
Rescue crews and thousands of government workers have been deployed across the hardest-hit districts. Teams continued to find survivors over the weekend, but rescuers face obstructed roads, landslides and destroyed infrastructure. The Bhote Koshi river—whose name means “Tibetan river”—obliterated the Gyirong border checkpoint and the Friendship Bridge that links Nepal and China; Chinese state video showed torrents of mud and water crashing into the border complex.
Among the missing are foreign nationals, including dozens of U.S. citizens. The U.S. State Department said 85 Americans were still unaccounted for as of Sunday morning and that nine had been safely evacuated. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the department has not confirmed any U.S. deaths and has increased assistance to its embassies in Beijing and Kathmandu while activating $3.6 million in emergency aid, including food support intended to feed about 10,000 households for up to three months.
For many families, the uncertainty is unbearable. Divya Chandrashekar described her brother-in-law, Ragu Rajan, and his wife, Archana Suresh, as devoted parents who loved the outdoors and had planned their spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash for a year. The couple, from Murphy, Texas, left Kathmandu on Aug. 25 and were reported near the Gyirong Port border post the morning the floods struck; that became their last known location.
Shreya Ahuja, who lives in North Carolina, told reporters she spoke with her parents, Deepak and Madhu Ahuja—U.S. citizens and small-business owners in Dallas—just hours before the flood hit. The couple had completed the pilgrimage and were returning toward the border post. Ahuja said she tried multiple calls and messages as concern grew: “Initially I wasn’t too worried,” she said, explaining the hope that her parents had not been caught in the same spot as the deluge.
Humanitarian groups warn that delivering relief will be difficult. Catholic Relief Services said it has started distributing the first $500,000 of emergency funds but that blocked roads and unstable terrain complicate deliveries. Senthil Kumar Gurunathan, the group’s South Asia representative, said survivors have often fled with nothing and urgently need food, clean water, clothing, menstrual hygiene supplies and mental-health support. He described efforts to find alternative, safer routes to bring lifesaving aid into cut-off communities.
The first shipments of U.S.-supported relief have reached Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts: blankets, mosquito nets, insulating foam sheets for shelter floors and several tons of food. But authorities caution the situation could worsen: Nepal’s weather service and the U.S. Embassy warned of heavy rain in central hill and mountain areas through Tuesday, Sept. 1, which could trigger more flash floods, debris flows, landslides and riverbank erosion, further disrupting roads, flights and rescue operations.
As search efforts continue, families of pilgrims and trekkers wait anxiously for news, while responders work to expand access and deliver emergency supplies to communities cut off by the disaster. Reporters on the story contributed additional reporting from the region.
