KATHMANDU, Nepal — Emergency crews scrambled on Sunday to evacuate communities in central Nepal after a sudden flash flood along the Budhi Gandaki River washed away bridges and dozens of homes, prompting red alerts across multiple downstream districts.
The deluge struck early Sunday morning in the rugged highlands of Gorkha district, about 62 miles west of Kathmandu. Officials reported that a dry landslide in Chumnubri village had blocked the river before the barrier gave way, sending a torrent of muddy water and debris downstream. The Budhi Gandaki feeds into the Trishuli River system, a major waterway network that flows through central Nepal.
Extensive damage along the river basin
The sudden surge of water damaged or destroyed dozens of buildings and swept away vital transport links in the mountainous region. Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the senior administrative bureaucrat in Gorkha district, said about a dozen residences and two suspension crossings had been washed away, while a camp belonging to a hydroelectric facility also suffered damage, Reuters reported.
Local officials cited higher counts of destruction in northern settlements. Nearly 35 homes in the Painyu and Bagar areas of Chumnubri Rural Municipality were carried away, The Times of India reported. Assistant Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma told news agency ANI that six crossings had been destroyed across the region, including two motorable bridges and four suspension bridges. Among the lost links was a highway crossing connecting Gorkha to neighboring Dhading district, according to Dharam Raj Uprety, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
“We have asked villagers living along the river banks downstream to evacuate and remain safe,” Mishra said, as quoted by Reuters.
Disaster management authorities expanded emergency warnings southward, alerting communities along riverbanks in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts to move immediately to higher ground.
Rescue operations and conflicting casualty reports
Official accounts varied on Sunday regarding whether any residents were unaccounted for in the aftermath of the early-morning surge. While national police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told German press agency dpa that there were no confirmed fatalities or missing individuals, local media reported at least five people missing, Yahoo News reported. Sharma told ANI that 10 people had been reported missing since the flood began around 4 a.m.
Military and police units were dispatched on foot and by helicopter to assist stranded residents. Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah announced on social media that the army had rescued six individuals facing danger from landslides in the village of Jagat. Disaster officials also confirmed that 18 workers escaped safely from the damaged hydroelectric project camp.
Home Minister Sudan Gurung urged riverside residents in settlements including Sirdibas, Salleri, Machhakhola and Arughat to seek safe ground, warning that river levels continued to fluctuate unpredictably. Emergency workers on the ground employed loudspeakers to alert residents, while air crews monitored rising water levels from above.
Lingering trauma from summer disaster
Sunday’s flooding revived intense public anxiety across Nepal, coming just weeks after catastrophic late-August flooding devastated the Trishuli and Bhote Koshi river basins along the border with China. That earlier disaster, triggered by a glacial collapse, claimed more than 1,450 lives and left thousands of others missing, according to government statistics.
The central government had only recently wound down active search operations for victims of the August disaster to shift toward a massive rebuilding initiative estimated to cost $4.77 billion. The August flooding damaged or leveled roughly 7,500 residences and disrupted major transport corridors across the country.
As night fell on Sunday, emergency responders remained on high alert throughout the Budhi Gandaki river valley. Authorities said geological stability upstream remains uncertain, and technical teams are continuing to monitor the river for further blockages or sudden surges.
