School principal Rajendra Dawadi has been praised for saving hundreds of children after ordering an emergency evacuation just minutes before flash floods swept away their school in Nepal’s Trishuli Valley.
More than 900 pupils and 16 members of staff were at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Bidur, Nuwakot district, when warnings began arriving on the morning of Wednesday, August 26. Dawadi rang the bell and told everyone to leave the building and head for higher ground. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/de0b24519de6514dd150737c2a729d97))
The first alert came from the school’s accountant, who had received a call from a relative in Rasuwa, the area hit first by the floodwaters. Teachers then received further warnings, while a parent arrived to collect her daughter.
“We immediately said: Stop the class, ring the bell,” Dawadi told Reuters. The school was evacuated in about 14 minutes, according to reports.
As pupils and teachers fled towards a nearby hillside, a wall of mud and water moved through the valley. Dawadi watched from safety as the three-storey school disappeared beneath floodwater, rocks and debris.
One bus carrying pupils had already reached the school. Dawadi ordered its driver to turn around, and the vehicle crossed a newly built bridge. Moments later, an older bridge alongside it collapsed.
The school, which had 1,643 pupils, stood between the Trishuli River and a hydropower canal. It had been rebuilt after Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake, but its former site is now part of the riverbed. ([channelnewsasia.com](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/nepal-tibet-disaster-flood-warning-900-students-school-6352481))
At least two members of staff remain missing, according to Dawadi. The school accountant also returned to his family home after raising the alarm and was unable to save his mother, who was swept away.
Floods leave thousands of Nepalese children without classrooms
Parents later embraced Dawadi and cried as they thanked him for getting their children out. Fourteen-year-old pupil Suvina Tamang said the school building was destroyed shortly after the evacuation and that she would thank the principal for saving her life.
Dawadi has played down the praise, saying that protecting the pupils was his responsibility. He said the children would need psychological support and that lessons should resume, even if classes had to be held at a temporary location.
“I have no words. I got education from that school. And I gave education at that school,” he said.
The disaster has also caused widespread damage to education across northern Nepal. Save the Children said at least 69 schools had been destroyed or damaged, putting the education of 18,918 children at risk. The organisation said the figure was based on an initial assessment and could rise as rescue teams reach more isolated communities. ([savethechildren.org](https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/media-and-news/2026-press-releases/nepal-floods-schoolchildren-reunited-with-families))
Save the Children said nine children who had been stranded at a school for two days were reunited with their families after walking to an aid distribution point. It warned that many pupils had lost books, uniforms and other belongings, while fears of further flooding continued to drive families towards higher ground. ([savethechildren.org](https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/media-and-news/2026-press-releases/nepal-floods-schoolchildren-reunited-with-families))
The floods followed a glacial collapse in the Himalayas and killed more than 900 people across Nepal and Tibet, with thousands still missing. For Dawadi, the immediate priority is now clear: rebuild the school in a safer location and give the children a place to return to. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/de0b24519de6514dd150737c2a729d97))
