Nepal Floods Kill Over 1,200, Thousands Missing, 20,000 Homes Need Rebuilding

Nepal authorities estimate around 20,000 houses will need to be rebuilt in flood-ravaged areas, as rescuers continue to search for thousands missing after last week’s catastrophe.

A glacier collapse on August 26 sent a deluge of ice, rock, and mud through Nepal's border region with China, wiping out settlements. At least 1,252 people were killed in Nepal, with more than 4,200 still missing and thousands displaced. China reported 21 deaths and 541 missing in Tibet. Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, stated preliminary estimates show 7,500 houses were completely destroyed.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal noted substantial resources will be required for rebuilding. A Canadian citizen previously reported missing has been located and is safe, but Global Affairs Canada is aware of 29 other Canadians and permanent residents in Nepal and Tibet whose whereabouts remain unknown. Two Israelis, a 60-year-old man and a 41-year-old dual Israeli-Belarusian national, are among the missing.

Nearly 600 foreign tourists and workers from 39 countries are unaccounted for, though 324 foreigners have been rescued. Some 30 Jewish visitors are also missing, according to the Chabad of Nepal. Intensive rescue efforts focus on tunnels beneath Nepal’s hydropower plants, where some 900 workers are believed trapped. India, China, and the United States have sent tunnel rescue experts.

Nepal Electricity Authority board member Amshu Kiran Shahi expressed confidence that life exists in the hydropower plants. Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s cabinet set September 7 as a day of national mourning. Nepal urged international travelers not to abandon the Himalayas, declaring the country open for tourism.