The disaster began when an avalanche in Tibet blocked the Lhende tributary of the Bhotekoshi river, unleashing a wall of water that first struck the border settlement of Timure before surging downstream through Rasuwa, Nuwakot and several other districts. Officials say satellite imagery from Planet Labs points to the avalanche having occurred roughly 20 kilometres northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border crossing.
Witnesses described a terrifying scene. Rasuwa's chief customs officer said he initially mistook the tremor for an earthquake before seeing floodwater surge through the Timure market, and told local reporters the wave appeared close to 100 metres high. More than 300 vehicles waiting at the customs checkpoint were swept away, along with much of the settlement itself.
**Rising toll, widespread destruction**
Nepal Police say the confirmed death toll has now passed 160, with bodies recovered across Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Chitwan, Tanahun and other districts. Dozens more remain in hospital, and rescue teams are still searching for hundreds of missing people, including foreign nationals and security personnel.
The flood has wrecked nine hydropower projects, damaged an equal number of bank branches, and destroyed 19 motorable bridges and roughly 40 kilometres of highway. Helicopters, including military aircraft, have flown repeated missions to reach stranded survivors, though poor weather has grounded several flights.
South Korea has mobilised an emergency task force after workers at a hydropower site in Rasuwa were reported missing, underlining the flood's international reach.
**No warning reached those in the flood's path**
Much of the criticism since the disaster has centred on the lack of advance warning. Automatic flood-monitoring stations in the upper Bhotekoshi were themselves destroyed by the flood before they could transmit any alert, officials from Nepal's Flood Forecasting Division said. A warning was issued to downstream districts within minutes of the first reports reaching Kathmandu, but by then the flood had already devastated Rasuwa.
Former disaster authority chief Anil Pokhrel said Nepal urgently needs a cross-border early-warning arrangement with China, since the source of the danger lies beyond Nepal's monitoring reach. Following the disaster, Nepali and Chinese meteorological officials held emergency talks, with Beijing agreeing to notify Kathmandu as soon as water levels rise on its side of the border.
A similar flood on the same river last year killed at least 11 people and destroyed a bridge linking Nepal and China, raising questions about why stronger warning systems were not already in place.
The government has yet to release a full accounting of the damage, and the death toll is expected to rise further as search operations continue in the coming days.