TUFAN NEUPANE
Hard on the heels of the landslide disaster on the Bhote Kosi on 2 August that claimed 145 lives, Nepal’s mid-western mountains and plains suffered catastrophic flooding never seen before in the region. A monsoon cloudburst dumped over 500 mm of rain overnight on 14 August, unleashing flashfloods in the Surkhet and Dang Valleys, and the Babai and Rapti Rivers washing away settlements, bridges and highways. Many of the survivors lost family members, their homes and all their possessions. Sauni Tharu, 17, in Bardiya escaped with her 14-day baby daughter when the Babai washed away her home. She has been surviving by the East-West Highway in a tent for the past week (pic, above).
Late-planted paddy fields across the mid-West have been destroyed. The government appears to have underestimated the scale of the disaster: with more than 100 killed, hundreds more missing, 30,000 homeless and up to 250,000 people affected. Now, disease stalks survivors in the affected region.