Nepal surveys flood wreckage as death toll reaches 198, dozens missing
Floods and landslides are common during monsoon season but experts say climate change is making them worse
Search and rescue teams in Nepal’s capital picked through wrecked homes on Monday after waters receded from monsoon floods that killed at least 198 people around the Himalayan republic.
Deadly floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change is making them worse.
Entire neighbourhoods in Kathmandu were inundated after the heaviest rain in more than two decades, with the capital temporarily cut off from the rest of Nepal after landslides blocked highways.
“So far, 198 people have been reported dead, and another 26 are missing,” said Nepal Police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki.
At least 35 of those killed were buried alive when earth from a landslide smashed into vehicles on a road south of Kathmandu, he said.
Bulldozers were being used to clear nearly two dozen sections of major roads leading into Kathmandu that had been blocked by debris.
