Devastated by floods and overwhelmed by bodies, Nepalis weep for what remains of their homes

30 August 2026 at 19:39

Relatives of those missing have been given PowerPoint slideshows of recovered bodies in effort to speed up identification of the dead

The bodies continue to wash up. But the morgues have already run out of room.

Since the deadly floods coursed through the Himalayan valleys of Nepal and Tibet, the numbers of people killed have continued to rise. The bodies have surfaced in their hundreds and continue to be pulled from the thick, tar-like mud that engulfed everything after the flood waters receded. By Sunday, the death toll stood at 804 in Nepal and Tibet.

Devastated by floods and overwhelmed by bodies, Nepalis weep for what remains of their homes

World news | The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Devighat

30 August 2026 at 19:39

Relatives of those missing have been given PowerPoint slideshows of recovered bodies in effort to speed up identification of the dead

The bodies continue to wash up. But the morgues have already run out of room.

Since the deadly floods coursed through the Himalayan valleys of Nepal and Tibet, the numbers of people killed have continued to rise. The bodies have surfaced in their hundreds and continue to be pulled from the thick, tar-like mud that engulfed everything after the flood waters receded. By Sunday, the death toll stood at 804 in Nepal and Tibet.

Nepal warns of possible fresh flooding as communities grapple with devastation

PBS News Hour - The Latest

By: Victoria Milko, Associated Press · Niranjan Shrestha, Associated Press

30 August 2026 at 18:58

Flood warning notices were sent to people's phones early Sunday as rescue crews worked to clear a major highway connecting Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday's catastrophic floods.

Flooding devastated swathes of Indiana but response is hampered by politics

World news | The Guardian

By: Stephen Starr in Cambridge City · Indiana

30 August 2026 at 15:00

Record inundations wrecked homes and took seven lives but Trump has not approved emergency aid and the state has cut funds for environmental agencies

It’s been 10 days since the floodwater receded from Cambridge City’s main street and yet signs of disaster are all around.

Abandoned cars, toilets and bathtubs are strewn across parks and side streets on a recent visit to the city. Garages have been lifted from their foundations and moved by the rushing water. Dumpsters up and down the street are overflowing with people’s belongings, with red paint sprayed on homes indicating which houses have been cleared by water rescue teams.

‘Their whole village has disappeared’: frantic hunt for survivors in Kathmandu hospital

World news | The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Gaurav Pokharel in Kathmandu

29 August 2026 at 17:11

Family members pin photos of Nepal’s missing to hospital wall as people try not to give up hope on loved ones

Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates

Posters of missing people line the wall of the hospital, the glue still fresh beneath. A schoolgirl smiling in her uniform; a beaming, chubby-cheeked baby; a couple smiling on their wedding day; a young man, hands on hips, atop a mountain peak; a young girl with flowing hair, peeking out from behind a door.

These faces are just a fraction of the thousands who have not been seen since deadly flash floods coursed through the Himalayas and wiped away entire villages. By Saturday morning, the toll of the missing had risen to almost 3,000, in both Nepal and Tibet.

‘Their whole village has disappeared’: frantic hunt for survivors in Kathmandu hospital

The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Gaurav Pokharel in Kathmandu

29 August 2026 at 17:11

Family members pin photos of Nepal’s missing to hospital wall as people try not to give up hope on loved ones

Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates

Posters of missing people line the wall of the hospital, the glue still fresh beneath. A schoolgirl smiling in her uniform; a beaming, chubby-cheeked baby; a couple smiling on their wedding day; a young man, hands on hips, atop a mountain peak; a young girl with flowing hair, peaking out from behind a door.

These faces are just a fraction of the thousands who have not been seen since deadly flash floods coursed through the Himalayas and wiped away entire villages. By Saturday morning, the toll of the missing had risen to almost 3,000, in both Nepal and Tibet.

Number of missing in Nepal and Tibet rises to 3,000 as bad weather hampers search

World news | The Guardian

By: Donna Ferguson and agencies

30 August 2026 at 04:25

Nepal requests foreign ⁠help in identification and storing of bodies, DNA testing and rescuing people from tunnels

Poor weather temporarily hampered aerial rescue operations in Nepal on Saturday as the search for thousands of missing people in areas devastated by catastrophic flash floods along the border with China continued.

The combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 691 dead and more than 3,000 people missing after China’s latest update on Sunday. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing, while Nepal’s disaster agency said late Saturday that the death toll had climbed to 675 with 2,498 people missing.

‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in Nepal

The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Gaurav Pokharel in Bidur. Photographs and video by Ahmer Khan

28 August 2026 at 21:22

Army helicopters ferry survivors from inaccessible areas to a camp at a barracks in Bidur

The three women sat together in the army tent and wept. They cried out for their sons, their husbands, their homes. As flash floods coursed through the Himalayan mountains on Wednesday morning, a monstrous black wave took everything from them.

As a melting glacier high up in the Himalayas between Tibet and Nepal splintered and crashed into the valley below, it set off a deadly cascade of water, mud and debris down the Bhote Koshi River. The impact of the glacier collapse was so strong that experts initially reported it as an earthquake. The Nepali village homes that lined the riverbank and clung to the mountainside stood little chance.

On the ground in Nepal after deadly flash floods – video

The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen · Ahmer Khan · Mathilde Poncet and Augusta Anthony

28 August 2026 at 17:28

South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis‑Petersen is on the ground in Bidur, one of the most devastated towns in Nepal, after the deadly flash floods that struck on Wednesday morning. Most homes were completely washed away when a tide of mud, rocks and debris flooded the river valley. Those who survived describe clinging on to buildings and trees as the water rushed over them

Chinese control of information hampers assessment of Tibet flood damage

World news | The Guardian

By: Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

28 August 2026 at 17:25

Scale of devastation emerges in Nepal as reporters reach disaster area, but Chinese state media focus more on rescue efforts

Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates

In the days since an enormous glacier in the Himalayas snapped away from a mountaintop and cascaded into the valley below, the true scale of the devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet is still unfolding.

But the picture is emerging far more quickly in Nepal than in China, where strict controls on the flow of information from one of its most sensitive regions are hampering the public’s understanding of events.

Families of 33 missing Britons rush to Nepal as fears grow of more floods

World news | The Guardian

By: Rachel Hall and Nadeem Badshah

28 August 2026 at 18:44

Desperate relatives trying to reach loved ones last seen in area where entire villages have been swept away

Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region.

The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 538 people, while more than 1,500 remain missing.

Nepal-Tibet flood rescue efforts resume after being halted by overflowing lake

World news | The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Bidur · Sam Jones and agencies

28 August 2026 at 13:17

Risk of fresh flooding had forced rescue teams to withdraw as residents rushed up hills to escape possible river surge

Rescuers searching for survivors of deadly flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border have resumed their efforts after suspending operations when a debris dam burst its bank on Friday, increasing the risk of fresh flooding.

Residents in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, were seen rushing up hillsides ⁠on Friday to escape a possible surge in the river, ⁠according to witnesses. Fears of another flood came as authorities in Nepal and China said that at least 543 people had been killed in the disaster.

Search continues as number missing in Nepal-Tibet floods rises to 2,478 – as it happened

World news | The Guardian

By: Wendy Frew · Lucy Campbell, Keely Aouga, Nadeem Badshah, Tom Ambrose, Mabel Banfield-Nwachi, Taz Ali and Adam Fulton

29 August 2026 at 06:49

This live blog is now closed

More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by Wednesday’s flooding.

“Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel,” army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.

Relief efforts are also under way to provide the rescued people what they need.

The army is still working to safely evacuate more than 100 people trapped in the same tunnel.

At least 160 killed and hundreds missing after flash floods destroy roads and buildings in Nepal and China

PBS News Hour - The Latest

By: Niranjan Shrestha, Associated Press · Sibi Arasu, Associated Press

26 August 2026 at 16:58

Massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China on Wednesday killed at least 98 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in some areas to a halt.

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