What Happened
A wall of ice and rock, moving like wet concrete
Scientists believe a chunk of glacier broke away above the Bhotekoshi/Rasuwa river system, releasing a debris flood equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dump-truck loads of rock and ice. It cut the only overland trade route between Kathmandu and Tibet, damaged 14 hydropower and solar installations, and left phone networks — and entire settlements — dark and disconnected for days.
Rasuwa, one of the districts hit hardest, was still recovering from the 2015 earthquake when this flood struck. For families there, this is the second time in a decade they have had to start over.
“A whole village seems to have been washed away.”
— Nepali health official, on the scale of destruction in the flood zone
- CAUSE A glacial ice collapse on the Nepal–China border triggered the flash flood; a second at-risk glacial lake is still being monitored for renewed flooding.
- REACH Villages, roads, bridges, schools and hydropower infrastructure across Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, Bagmati Province.
- CHILDREN More than 20,000+ children are in urgent need of assistance; at least 70+ schools damaged.
- WHAT'S NEXT Clearing debris and rebuilding roads, homes and water systems will take months — and the emotional toll will last far longer.