Homes and bridges swept away as fresh floods hit Nepal

By Navin Singh Khadka Environment correspondent, BBC World Service.

Key points

• Within a couple of hours, the river's water levels at one location had risen from two metres (6ft 5in) to almost 8.5m (27ft 9in), office-holders noted.
• Around 50 individuals have been rescued from along the bank of the Budhi Gandaki River in the central Gorkha district, the army confirmed.
• Binod Parajuli, a meteorologist who works with the Nepalese administration, stated: "Our hydrological station was swept away and we are not getting any data from that location."
• "Children's lives have been ripped apart in an instant yet again", the charity's director in Nepal, Tara Chettry, remarked.
• The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli river, downstream from another tributary where a glacier collapse caused the previous disaster.

Meanwhile, a major river in Nepal has flooded, sweeping away houses, bridges and damaging a part of hydropower station, authorities have remarked.

Around 50 individuals have been rescued from along the bank of the Budhi Gandaki River in the central Gorkha district, the army confirmed. No casualties have been documented yet, even so five individuals are missing.

Notably, a video of the flood demonstrates the moment raging waters sweep down a valley and wash away an entire building complex.

Nepal is on high alert and still trying to recover from catastrophic floods that hit its border towns with Tibet two months ago, leaving more than 1, 400 individuals dead and thousands missing.

Sunday's flood tore through the Gorkha district as children and communities prepared to mark the first day of the Dashain festival, a major moment in the Nepali calendar.

Families have been forced to flee their homes, with plenty of facing uncertainty over where they will find safe shelter and access to essential supplies.

While a hydroelectric project was damaged, carrying some of the construction equipment away, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority noted, the flood swept away regarding a dozen houses and a number of suspension bridges.

Nevertheless, experts say the debris-flow is much smaller and travelled more gradually than the devastating flash floods in August.

What caused the latest flood is still unclear. While others say locals upstream saw an ice-avalanche, some say a landslide may have blocked the river or its tributary for some time, causing the dammed water to burst out.

Save the Children is mobilising an emergency team to respond to Sunday's flood.

"We are yet to see the full scale of the damage, but they may have lost their homes, schools and communities. Plenty of children in Gorkha will still be in shock and distress after the mega floods in August, barely having a chance to secure back on their feet."

Notably, the Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli river, downstream from another tributary where a glacier collapse caused the previous disaster.

For now, homes and bridges swept away as fresh floods hit Nepal remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.