Nepal Floods Leave Survivors Searching for Lost Homes and Loved Ones

In Nepal, catastrophic flooding has displaced thousands of residents, prompting survivors to navigate through the remnants of their former lives as they search for lost family members and belongings. One survivor, Anusa Thapa Magar, returned from her job in the Maldives, hoping to find her grandmother alive. However, when she arrived in Betrawati, the family’s hometown, she was met with a barren landscape of hardened grey silt, devoid of any traces of their former residence. Anusa, 23, expressed her despair, questioning if her grandmother might still be beneath the rubble of their home, which was built to accommodate her grandmother's mobility issues. "If my house is buried underneath, that means my Aama is still here underneath too, right?" she said quietly. The flooding was triggered by a glacial collapse in the mountains bordering Nepal and China, resulting in significant devastation along the Trishuli River. Authorities have reported at least 1,386 fatalities on the Nepalese side, with 5,130 individuals currently unaccounted for. Despite ongoing search efforts, there have been no recent discoveries of survivors. To reach what was once Betrawati, residents must traverse steep hills and narrow ridges, an arduous journey revealing scattered personal items like shoes and children's backpacks, which testify to the urgency of the evacuation as the floodwaters surged. Kalpana Thapa Magar, a 43-year-old garment business owner, recounted her experience during the disaster when she received a frantic call from a friend. "Run! Run!" was the advice that prompted her to flee, and when she turned back, she found everything gone, including others who had been fleeing alongside her. In the downstream area of Devighat, the shells of houses remain standing, with some residents sifting through the rubble to reclaim what little they can. Many however, claim there is no reason to return as the land is now buried under debris. This disaster conjures painful memories of the 2015 earthquake that claimed nearly 9,000 lives in Nepal. Sita Thapa Magar, a teacher and Kalpana’s older sister, lamented, "This time, we have lost everything. Our houses, our land, our future." Shanti Dangol, 61, found herself holding onto a broken floor tile—one of the last remnants of her three-storey lodge that once accommodated trekkers and pilgrims. "Economically, people here had started doing well. Now, nothing remains," she said, reflecting on the community's previous recovery efforts and current despair.