Villagers along the Budhi Gandaki river in north-central Nepal were evacuated on Sunday after flash flooding destroyed homes and other structures, with authorities warning residents in surrounding areas to move to safety.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority urged people to remain alert until late Sunday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The agency was investigating the cause of the flooding on the Budhi Gandaki, which joins the Trishuli river and is an important waterway near the capital, Kathmandu.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show houses and sheds being swept away by swollen water rushing between steep mountains. The full number of affected villages was not immediately known.
Government warnings reportedly prompted an evacuation in Arughat, a riverside town on the highway linking Kathmandu with other parts of Nepal.
The flooding comes as the country continues to recover from a devastating disaster in August along the Nepal-China border. More than 1,400 people were killed and thousands remained missing, while the government has estimated that rebuilding damaged infrastructure will cost almost 7 billion US dollars.
Nearly 33,000 people were affected in that disaster and about 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed. Nepal’s authorities have since shifted from searching for additional victims to recovery work, including restoring roads and bridges cut off by flooding.
