Swollen rivers, washed-out roads hamper Nepal rescue effort

By Arunabh SAIKIA
Bidur, Nepal (AFP) Aug 31, 2026
Nepali rescue teams battled difficult terrain, an unpredictable river and treacherous marshland on Monday, the sixth day in their search for survivors and victims of devastating floods.

The catastrophic flooding has killed more than 900 people, while the number of people unaccounted for has also risen, reaching more than 4,793 on Monday.

"There are too many challenges," said E. Hawadi, a police officer coordinating rescue efforts in the badly affected Nuwakot district.

"There are no roads, they have all been washed away, and many areas are just not accessible," he told AFP.

Floodwaters remained high in some areas. Elsewhere, the ground had turned into slushy mud, slowing movement and complicating operations.

"It is very difficult for my men. The area is still flooded, and elsewhere it is all marshland," Hawadi said.

Entire communities have been swept away, leaving families homeless in heavy rain or sheltering in temporary facilities.

Unidentified bodies are being buried in mass graves after DNA sampling.

- 'Deep and steep' -

The difficult conditions in Nepal's remote settlements have forced rescuers to depend heavily on helicopters, often the only viable means of reaching stranded communities.

"Once my men are dropped, they have to roam over large distances to conduct search and rescue," Hawadi said.

"But the helicopters have to return because there are not enough of them."

With supplies stretched and teams dispersed across a sprawling disaster zone, authorities have continued to bring reinforcements into Bidur, a small town on the banks of Trishuli River, which has become the main hub for rescue operations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri, appealing for international support, including specialist teams and kit to "locate people who may be buried under debris", said the mountain geography was adding to the challenge.

"This is the Himalayas... We have to be very careful when starting any rescue operation or relief operation," he told reporters on Monday.

"The gorges are very deep and steep, so that's the difficulty."

- 'Severely disrupted access' -

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent estimated that around 93,000 people may have been affected by the floods, and that "many homes have been destroyed or severely damaged".

More than 40 bridges have been damaged or destroyed.

India and China are sending prefabricated Bailey bridges that can be assembled quickly without heavy equipment.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said that the task was "challenging due to adverse weather, difficult terrain, and ongoing risks".

"Damage to roads, bridges, settlements, and critical infrastructure has severely disrupted access to affected communities, creating significant challenges for relief operations," the UN World Food Programme said, which is shipping in 2.4 tonnes of high-energy biscuits for families with nowhere to cook.

Back in Bidur, Hawadi said rescue teams were struggling with a lack of adequate equipment, including flotation devices needed to operate safely in floodwaters.

The swollen river, already responsible for widespread destruction, continued to change course, forcing rescuers to constantly reassess their plans.

"For example, an area that was dry yesterday is completely flooded today," Hawadi said.

That unpredictability has made night-time operations impossible in many areas, despite pressure to accelerate the search.

"It is unpredictable," he said. "Floods can come at any time."

At least 2,500 buildings destroyed in Nepal valley: data analysis
Paris, France (AFP) Aug 31, 2026 - More than 2,500 buildings were destroyed in Nepal's Trishuli valley in tsunami-like glacial floods on August 26, according to an AFP computation of data from Europe's Copernicus observatory.

That's about two-thirds of all buildings in the three potentially affected zones studied by Copernicus' emergency management service.

When partially damaged buildings are included, the proportion of structures affected rises to more than seven out of 10, underscoring the flood's violence as it tore through the valley.

These areas, which include parts of the towns of Timure, Syabrubesi and Bidur, north of the capital Kathmandu, were home to nearly 6,000 people before the disaster.

Images for the area around Bharatpur, Nepal's third most populous city, were still being studied on Monday morning.

Scientists attribute the flash flood to the collapse of a huge glacier in the Himalayas.

It swept through the Gyirong border post between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China, after it raced some 20 kilometres (12 miles) down from the glacier.

The small border town of Timure and its surroundings lost more than 80 percent of their buildings.

Ten kilometres further south, the disaster-stricken area of Syabrubesi lost nearly three-quarters of its buildings.

This village is the starting point for the famous Langtang trek and a route frequently used by Hindu pilgrims.

Further downstream, the riverbanks around Bidur -- the administrative centre of the Nuwakot district and the base for the rescue teams -- saw more than 1,800 buildings destroyed, or three out of every five.

As well as homes, the disaster destroyed roads and bridges, making it more difficult to deliver aid and search for the missing.