Nepal Police urged rescuers and the public to remain alert and take precautions by moving away from riverbanks amid fears of a second flash flood, officials said. Rasuwa district administrators received information from China about a breach in a barrier lake created by the earlier deluge but noted that Nepalese teams had not yet verified the report independently, according to the Arab Times. The alert follows similar notices issued a day earlier by disaster authorities in both countries as the region continued to grapple with the aftermath of Wednesday’s disaster.
A glacier collapse sent rock, ice, mud and debris cascading through Himalayan river systems on August 26, sweeping away villages, roads and infrastructure along a key route between Kathmandu and Lhasa, Reuters reported. The floods killed at least 359 people in Nepal with nearly 1,000 others missing, according to the news agency, while Chinese authorities reported three deaths and more than 500 missing in Tibet. Many of those unaccounted for were foreign tourists and pilgrims, Al Jazeera data shows.
Chinese state media reported that the barrier lake had accumulated roughly 2.5 million cubic metres of water and could receive an additional 3 million cubic metres over the next three days because of continued rainfall. The Ministry of Water Resources placed the risk of a breach as high with peak flows possible around September 1, citing forecasts that equate the additional volume to about 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Hydrology department researcher Zhu Jinfeng told state broadcaster CCTV, «The volume of water is continuing to increase, and so is the risk.»
Beijing halted all rescue operations on its side of the border and ordered personnel and vehicles to withdraw to safe areas to avoid threats from potential lake failure, mountain collapses or avalanches, CCTV reported. More than 1,000 people including stranded tourists have been evacuated from the Gyirong port area, Chinese officials said. Nepalese teams continued searches in affected districts but heeded their own government’s calls to avoid low-lying zones near the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers.
Rescue worker Pawan Koirala said he moved his 13-member team away from the riverbed immediately after the latest warning. «We are here for rescue and don’t want to be near the danger zone,» he told Reuters. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has deployed more than 5,000 army and police personnel across the affected valleys, according to agency spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet, while helicopters have dropped tents, food and medicine supplied by India.
The disaster zone lies along a popular corridor used by trekkers and pilgrims, which accounts for the large proportion of foreigners among the missing, a Reuters assessment found. Nepal’s disaster authority separately warned residents of lower banks along the Narayani river system to exercise caution and stay in safe locations until the threat subsides. Chinese engineers have begun flood simulations and monitoring to prepare for any breach, state media added.
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