In a couple of days, it will be four weeks since catastrophic flash floods and mudslides swept through Nepal's Nuwakot and Dhading districts on August 26, 2026.
Survivors in Betrawati, Devighat, Ratamate, Angitar and Galchhi recount narrow escapes and shattered livelihoods, as thousands still missing underscore the scale of a disaster triggered by a glacial collapse.
IMAGE: Kalpana Thapa Magar, 43, displaced by flash floods and mudslides, weeps sitting outside her tent at a temporary shelter on a hill in Betrawati, Nuwakot district.
"I have nothing left except the clothes I am wearing right now," she said on September 9 when this photograph was taken. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
"I have nothing left except the clothes I am wearing right now," she said on September 9 when this photograph was taken. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
IMAGE: Shanti Dangol, 61, displaced by the flash floods and mudslides, poses for a photograph on the sludge that buried her home in Betrawati, Nuwakot district, September 9, 2026.
She described Betrawati as a once-thriving town for pilgrims and trekkers that had grown more prosperous in recent years, adding that now nothing remains. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
She described Betrawati as a once-thriving town for pilgrims and trekkers that had grown more prosperous in recent years, adding that now nothing remains. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
IMAGE: A drone view shows the damaged Uttargaya Public School following flash floods and mudslides along the Trishuli river in Angitar, Nuwakot district, September 9, 2026.
Over 5,130 people remain missing after the flood, caused by a glacial collapse, killed at least 1,386 people. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Over 5,130 people remain missing after the flood, caused by a glacial collapse, killed at least 1,386 people. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
IMAGE: A labourer rests outside a flood-damaged house after hanging laundry for an employer in Devighat, Nuwakot district, September 7, 2026. Residents have been salvaging what belongings they can, with many saying they have no reason to return. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
IMAGE: Kalpana Thapa Magar, who was displaced by flash floods and mudslides, looks at part of her damaged house that was swept away by the flood in Betrawati, Nuwakot district September 9, 2026. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
IMAGE: Nabina Magar, 21, in front of her flood-damaged house and belongings recovered from the mud in Ratamate, Nuwakot district, Nepal, September 6, 2026.
She and her family escaped minutes before floodwaters reached their doorstep after her husband rushed home to warn that the river was rising.
"If we were late even for a minute, we would have died," she said. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
She and her family escaped minutes before floodwaters reached their doorstep after her husband rushed home to warn that the river was rising.
"If we were late even for a minute, we would have died," she said. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
IMAGE: Nani Kanchi Khatri, 60, inside her home where walls were destroyed by floodwaters in Galchhi, Dhading district, Nepal, September 6, 2026.
Khatri, who lives alone and suffers from asthma, said the flood damaged her only property and swept away medicines she had recently purchased. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
Khatri, who lives alone and suffers from asthma, said the flood damaged her only property and swept away medicines she had recently purchased. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
IMAGE: Desks and school bags covered in sludge are seen inside a classroom at the Uttargaya Public School, September 9, 2026. Search efforts continue, though it has been days since anyone has been found alive. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff
