Kathmandu, Sept. 28 (SANA) Twenty-one people have died, five remain missing and five others were injured after several days of heavy rain caused floods and landslides across Nepal and the Kathmandu region, according to Prime Minister Balendra Shah and the country’s disaster authorities.
Shah said Sunday that the injured were receiving treatment as authorities continued search, rescue and temporary shelter operations. Floods and landslides disrupted transportation in several areas and damaged roads and other infrastructure.
He warned that the danger had not passed, urging people to remain cautious as heavy rain and strong winds continued to affect parts of the country. Authorities have advised people in riverbank and hilly areas to avoid unnecessary travel.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the heavy to very heavy rainfall from Sept. 24 to 27 was linked to a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal. At least 747 families were directly affected, while around 2,000 people in areas at high risk of floods and landslides were relocated to safer locations, according to the authority.
The supplied report said the floods disrupted 1,013.2 megawatts of electricity supply through Nepal’s national transmission grid and forced hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 318 megawatts to suspend operations after transmission towers collapsed.
The latest severe weather comes about a month after catastrophic flash floods struck Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors on Aug. 26, affecting Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and other downstream areas.
Those floods caused extensive loss of life and widespread damage to homes, roads, bridges and hydropower facilities. Official figures changed substantially as search and rescue operations continued, with Nepal’s Foreign Ministry reporting 626 bodies recovered and about 2,400 people unaccounted for by Aug. 29.
IZ/RK
