A massive landslide in Nepal’s central Gorkha district has dammed the Budhi Gandaki River, causing rapid downstream flooding that destroyed parts of two villages, damaged infrastructure including a hydropower station, and displaced over 650 people. Authorities reported water levels rising dramatically within hours, submerging homes and cutting off access to a key trekking region where foreign hikers remain stranded. The disaster follows recent severe flooding and landslides near the Tibetan border, which left thousands dead or missing just two months earlier. With summer temperatures still affecting Portugal, the latest crisis underscores the growing threat of extreme weather in the region.
Landslide blocks river and triggers downstream flooding, while summer temperatures persist in PortugalFlash floods have swept through Nepal’s central Gorkha district after a pre-dawn landslide on 11 October blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, triggering severe downstream flooding. Two villages in the worst-affected Chumanubri rural municipality were reportedly destroyed, with homes, roads and bridges washed away. Part of a hydropower station was also damaged.After river levels surged from 2 metres to nearly 8.5 metres within hours, the national disaster risk reduction and management authority reported that 204 homes were damaged, and more than 650 people had been affected. More than 100 foreign trekkers were stranded in the popular hiking region. The floods come just two months after catastrophic flooding and landslides devastated parts of the country on the border with Tibet, leaving thousands dead or missing. Continue reading...
