Nepal Orders Evacuations as Budhi Gandaki Flash Flood Sweeps Away Homes, Bridges

Nepal's authorities told villagers living along the Budhi Gandaki river to move to safer ground on Sunday after a flash flood tore through settlements in Gorkha district, washing away homes, two suspension bridges and the camp of a hydropower project. The bridge that linked Gorkha with neighbouring Dhading district was among the structures carried off as the muddy water continued to rise, according to Reuters.

Eighteen workers at the hydropower camp managed to get out on their own after the flood damaged the site, and Nepal's prime minister, Balendra Shah, said in a social media post that military personnel had evacuated six people from Jagat, where they were at risk from landslides. Rescue teams from the army and police have reached the area and are also monitoring the situation from helicopters, officials said.

No casualties have been reported so far. Video circulating online showed thick, mud-heavy water slamming into buildings on the riverbank as the flow pushed down a valley between high hills.

The flood is said to have started with a landslide in Chumnubri village in Gorkha district, roughly 100 kilometres west of Kathmandu. Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the most senior bureaucrat in the district, said residents along the downstream banks had been asked to evacuate and keep themselves safe.

The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli river and lies downstream of another tributary where a glacial collapse set off a devastating flood in August, a disaster that killed 1,457 people and left thousands more missing. Nepal's national disaster authority has issued flood warnings for people living along rivers in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts.