Nepal floods kill at least 66 people, 69 missing

At least 66 people have been killed in Nepal since early Friday as heavy downpours triggered floods and landslides, closing major roads and disrupting domestic air travel, officials said Saturday.

The death toll could rise, authorities warned, with another 69 people reported missing and 60 injured since the rainfall began Friday morning, said Dil Kumar Tamang, a spokesperson for the Home Ministry.

Most of the deaths occurred in the Kathmandu Valley, home to 4 million people and the nation's capital, where flooding brought traffic and daily activities to a halt.

Rescue workers deployed helicopters and rubber boats to evacuate residents stranded on rooftops or high ground. Some parts of Kathmandu reported up to 12.68 inches (322.2 mm) of rain over the past day.

Authorities said most rivers across the Himalayan nation had swollen, spilling over roads and bridges. Torrential rains followed nearly a week-long delay in the retreat of South Asia’s annual monsoon season.

Police were working to clear debris and reopen highways blocked by landslides in 28 locations, said police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki.

The rains are expected to ease by Sunday, said Binu Maharjan, a weather official in Kathmandu, noting that a low-pressure system over parts of neighboring India was responsible for the prolonged downpours.

"Heavy rains are likely to continue until Sunday morning, but the weather should clear after that," Maharjan told Reuters.

Central and eastern regions of the country had received moderate to extremely heavy rainfall, ranging from 2 inches (50 mm) to over 8 inches (200 mm), Maharjan said. Moderate rainfall was recorded in other areas.

While international flights remain operational, many domestic flights have been disrupted, said Rinji Sherpa, a spokesperson for Kathmandu’s airport.

In the southeast, the Koshi River—known for causing deadly floods annually in India’s eastern Bihar state—was flowing at a dangerous level of 450,000 cusecs, compared to the normal flow of 150,000 cusecs, officials said. One cusec is equivalent to one cubic foot of water per second.

"The river level is still rising," said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region’s top bureaucrat.

Every year, hundreds of people die in Nepal’s monsoon season, which brings landslides and flash floods to the mountainous nation. Since mid-June, at least 254 people have died, and 65 remain missing due to landslides, floods, and lightning strikes, officials said.

Reuters