Flood Overview Map: Source: Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC). Copyright European Union
Asia – Nepal | Nationwide, Multiple Districts, Mid–Western Region
Affected : Bheri and Narayan River Drainage Basins
Location: N 28.7554553, E 81.3393538
Fatalities: 240
Injured: unknown
Missing: 44
Evacuees: 17,000
Damage Level: Extreme
Flood Magnitude: 5.82
Alert Level: Orange (Orange = 100 or more people killed or 80,000 or more displaced.)
Severity: Class 1 (i.e. large flood event with significant damage to structures or agriculture; fatalities; and/or 1-2 decades-long reported interval since the last similar event)
Primary Cause of Floods: Monsoonal Rain
Extreme Weather in Nepal on Sunday, 17 August, 2014 at 04:18 UTC
India announced a relief assistance of Nepali Rs 48 million for the victims of the recent floods and landslides that have hit different parts of Nepal, claiming over 240 lives in two weeks. “The government of India will provide Rs 30 million (NRs 48 million) assistance to the victims of recent floods and landslides in Nepal,” Ambassador Ranjit Rae said during a function organised by Nepal-India Friendship Society in Kathmandu to celebrate the 68th Independence Day of India. India has also arranged three helicopters and one airplane is on standby at the border for disaster relief operation on call of the Nepal government, he said. Recent floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in central and western Nepal have left over 240 people dead in the past two weeks. The death toll in the landslides and floods triggered by heavy rain over the past three days has reached 85, Home Ministry spokesperson Shanker Koirala said. Forty six people have been injured and 113 people are still missing in different parts of the country. Floods and landslides have affected 30 districts, nearly one-third of the country over the weekend. Surkhet district situated in the far west of the country, is the most affected area, where 24 people have died, Koirala said. The government has evacuated 12,000 people from Banke and Bardiya districts over the weekend, Koirala added. On Saturday, 15 people including 11 injured have been rescued from Jajarkot district, with the assistance of Nepal Army and police personnel, he said. Twenty five houses were swept away in Birendranagar Municipality in Surkhet district. “We will ask government of India for help if required,” the Home Ministry spokesperson said. Two weeks ago the blockade of water in Sunkoshi river caused by a massive landslide killed 156 people in Sindhupalchok district bordering Tibet, some 90 km east of Kathmandu.
Extreme Weather in Nepal on Saturday, 16 August, 2014 at 13:48 UTC
Flash floods and mudslides following heavy rains have killed at least 53 people in Nepal over the past three days and cut off remote communities in the mountains, the government said on Saturday. The landslides and flooding were triggered by annual monsoon rains since Wednesday, causing rain-soaked earth and rocks to crash down on homes while rivers swelled and washed away low-lying villages. Nepal’s Home Ministry said 75 people were unaccounted for and 36 others were in hospitals and medical centers. It was not immediately clear if the missing people were trapped in their damaged homes, washed away by floods or out of contact due to snapped communication links, officials said.
Extreme Weather in Nepal on Friday, 15 August, 2014 at 07:37 (07:37 AM) UTC.
As the rains lashed the country since Wednesday, at least 10 people have died in floods and landslides while a major bridge on the East-West Highway caved in, cutting off the eastern region from the rest of Nepal. Six people went missing, hundreds of houses were inundated and transportation was obstructed along various roadways owing to water-induced disasters nationwide. A few houses were damaged while over a dozen people sustained injuries in the incidents. Security personnel have been mobilised to rescue victims. In Jajarkot, two persons died and as many others went missing in separate incidents of landslide on Thursday. Nabarati Bohara and her eight-year-old son were killed when a landslip swept away a house at Sakla-3. Three other family members were seriously hurt. The villagers rescued the injured three hours later. Deputy Superintendent of Police Chakra Bahadur Singh said Ishara Nepali and Prakash Nepali went missing in a landslide at Ramidanda-9, Jajarkot, in their bid to flee. Six people were injured. Jivan Rawal, a local, told the Post that the injured were deprived of treatment in the lack of a health facility close by and roads and bridges rendered impassable. Our correspondent in Rukum said two persons were buried in a landslide at Chunbang VDC-8 on Thursday evening.
Police identified the dead as Bimala Gharti and her brother Bijaya Gharti. Two others were injured. Five persons were swept away by floods in Morang, Sindhuli and Udayapur districts while four others went missing in similar incidents in Siraha, Udayapur and Dhanusha districts. In Morang, Karna Bahadur Kepchhaki of Letang and Khadga Bahadur Limbu of Barangi were swept while crossing rain-fed local streams. In Sindhuli, Bhakta Bahadur Shrestha of Hatpate was caught by the Kamala river in his bid to cross it. One Bhanubhakta Rai of Ilam was swept away by the Dwar stream in Udayapur, police said, while Gopal Bhitrikoti of Tulasi-2 was carried by the Sinduri stream in Dhanusha. In Chitwan, Renuka Chepang, a 22-year-old pregnant woman, died when a landslide crushed her while working in the field at Shaktikhor-2. Scores of houses were inundated in Banke, Bardiya, Chitwan, Rautahat, Sarlahi and Siraha districts, displacing hundreds of people. In Bardiya alone, about 300 houses were waterlogged at Mahammadpur and Gulariya. Vehicular movement came to a halt on the Dhanusha-Mahottari stretch of the East-West Highway as a bridge across the Ratu stream caved in. Authorities said the flood damaged a pillar to the west, sinking the bridge 38 cm. Sections of BP Highway, Koshi Highway and Beni-Jomsom road have also been disrupted. The volume of water in the Koshi river was recorded this year’s highest 306,430 cusec on Thursday. Thirty-eight floodgates were opened in order to reduce the disaster risk.
Source: RSOE EDIS
Media Analysis:
Floods in the Babai River in Dang have claimed lives of at least three people. Fatalities are from Urahari and Duruwa area. Floods have also obstructed the Ghorahi-Tulsipur road section.
Rolpa
The landslide triggered by incessant downpour has killed two people in Rolpa.
Gorkha
A landslide at a school claimed lives of two persons and injured seven others at Finam-6 of Gorkha district.
The Ruwakhola River has swept away three children while crossing it in Asigram VDC-8.
Landslide has obstructed traffic in Narayanghat-Muglin road section. Landslide hit the highway at the place called 17 Kilo in Kabilas VDC-4 on Friday, Nepal Republic Media mentioned.
Prime Minister’s Office has established a Natural Disaster Control Centre at PM’s Secretariat in order to expedite rescue and relief works for victims of natural disasters across the nation. Similarly, the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has donated Rs 800,000 to the Natural Disaster Relief Fund of the Prime Minister on Friday.
Landslide kills child in Rukum, Nepal
Landslide in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal killed 156 people in early August of 2014.
Source: Disaster Report
Background:
2013 Monsoon Floods in Nepal and India: What happened and what could have been done?
Intense rainfall events: The monsoon rains usually hit Central Nepal around 15 June and Far Western Nepal around 20 June.
Mahakali Flood Disaster
The Mahakali river is a transboundary river between Nepal and India with a catchment area of 14,871 km2. It flows for about 223 km in Nepal and around 323.5 km in India to its confluence with the Karnali River in India. The recent rainfall events in the western and far western regions of Nepal and India affected 20 districts in Nepal and several districts in the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The floods and landslides that ensued have left hundreds of people dead or missing and destroyed property worth millions of dollars. While this is not the first event of this kind (see annexes in background article), it is certainly the most severe in the last 50 years and it happened at the beginning of the monsoon when no one was expecting.
Source: The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
2012 Landslide and Deadly Flood in Nepal : Natural Hazards (Photos, Links and Landsat imagery)
On May 5, 2012, a flash flood surged down the Seti River in Nepal, sweeping away people and buildings along the riverbanks. The same day, a seismic network half a world away detected a large landslide above the river’s headwaters. The landslide occurred on a ridge below the summit of 7,525-meter (24,688-foot)-tall Annapurna IV, one of the peaks of the Annapurna massif.
The Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) on the Landsat 7 satellite observed the region before and after the landslide and flood. The top image shows the area on May 6, 2012, roughly 25 hours after the landslide. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same area on April 20. Both images are natural color. The diagonal lines are gaps in the data, resulting from a partial failure of the satellite.
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David Petley of the International Landslide Centre at Durham University comments that the fact that the landslide and flood occurred in quick succession certainly suggested a link,…’There’s a drop of about 2,000 meters (7,000 feet) into the canyon, that would generate an enormous gain in momentum. (Potentially causing) the debris to run down the canyon at speeds upwards of 30 meters (100 feet) per second—a guess but what is seen from the landslide itself. The assumption is, this debris flow overran the water flow. In other words, the water was largely already in the river channel and all that was needed was a massive, high-momentum debris flow to get it moving.’
Some of the first news reports of the event suggested that the landslide formed a temporary dam on the Seti River, and water breaking through that dam caused the flash flood. But Stark estimated that events unfolded in a matter of minutes with no time for a temporary dam to form. As of late May 2012, Stark and Petley planned to continue examining the evidence to better understand the events in this remote region.
In addition to the satellite and seismic observations, a local pilot—who was flying a sightseeing tour over the region when the landslide occurred—has shared video of the dust cloud, which probably formed in a matter of minutes after the slide started. He also acquired aerial photos of the flood surge down the Seti River. His YouTube video shows flooding near the village of Pokhara, which was badly damaged. After the initial disaster, the BBC acquired video footage of a subsequent flood surge down the Seti River, where hazardous conditions continued.
(Excerpt) Read the full article, Landslide and Deadly Flood in Nepal at NASA Earth Observatory: Natural Hazards
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