Nepal issued fresh flood warnings on Sunday, urging residents in affected districts to stay alert after water levels rose again in the Bhotekoshi River the days after catastrophic floods killed hundreds.
Phone alerts went out across the region Sunday morning as rescue crews worked to reopen a key highway linking Kathmandu to the worst-hit areas. In Galchhi town the residents climbed to higher ground on a bridge and watching the swollen river rush past. Whistles warned people off a suspension bridge as huge boulders, swept down by earlier floods with remained visible in the water.
Along the riverbanks, homes, vehicles and tractors lay buried in thick grey-brown sediment. Rice terraces had collapsed into the river after landslides.
The combined death toll in Nepal and Tibet has reached 750 with over 3,000 people still missing. Nepal's disaster agency reported 734 deaths and 2,498 missing while Chinese authorities confirmed 16 deaths and 546 missing, including Nepalis and foreign nationals.
The new warnings followed information from Chinese authorities about rising water flow upstream, said Dharam Raj Uprety of Nepal's disaster management authority.
Residents said repeated alerts have made survival exhausting. "Sometimes they say a flood is coming and then we have to run again even at night" said local resident Govind Shrestha who cares for his elderly parents.
Destroyed bridges have cut off communities on either side of the river. "Those who are there are stuck there. Those here are stuck here," said Sattal Singh Tamang, 47.
Power remains cut in many areas with damaged lines still tangled in mud. The Prithivi Highway, a vital supply route to Kathmandu is partly operational though repairs continue elsewhere.
