At least 101 people have died and another 64 are missing in Nepal, due to floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains, according to a new report announced by the police on Sunday, September 29. The capital, Kathmandu, is especially affected.
The previous police report on Saturday reported at least 59 dead and 44 missing. “The number of casualties is likely to increase as our search and rescue mission in the affected areas progresses”police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told Agence France-Presse.
The Kathmandu Valley recorded 240 millimeters of rain in 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning, the Nepal Meteorological Agency told the newspaper. Kathmandu Post. This is the heaviest rainfall recorded in the Nepalese capital since at least 1970, according to this agency.
Authorities had warned of flash flooding in several rivers when the bad weather began. Kathmandu’s rivers burst their banks and flooded homes near the banks.
More frequent floods
“It’s scary. “I have never seen such devastation.”Mahamad Shabuddin, 34, owner of a motorcycle repair shop, very close to the swollen Bagmati River, confided on Saturday. Some survivors took shelter on the roofs of buildings, others fled through the muddy water.
The June to September monsoons cause death and destruction across South Asia each year, but the number of deadly floods and landslides has increased in recent years.
Experts say climate change has worsened in frequency and intensity. More than 220 people have died this year in Nepal due to rain-related natural disasters.
