Nepal communities left traumatised by floods, says expat

A Solihull‑born woman living in Nepal said the scale of destruction caused by the landslides and flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border is "almost impossible to comprehend".

At least 1,200 people have died and thousands more remain missing after a "glacial collapse" high in the Himalayas, led to floodwater and debris sweeping through towns and villages.

Claire Tamang, who has lived in Kathmandu since 2010, said the disaster has left communities "traumatised".

The expat said products coming in and out of the country have been disrupted, with food prices rising and electricity interrupted due to hydropower plants being destroyed in the floods.

Tamang, who has a Nepalese husband, described the flood as a fast‑moving wall of mud, boulders and debris that travelled down through the valley.

Entire settlements along one of Nepal's most important north–south corridors have been destroyed, with some towns "completely flattened", she said.

"When the news first broke, all of us were hoping it was an AI‑generated prank," Tamang said.

"A lot of our friends and family know people that are missing.

"We had an earthquake in 2015 which was just as devastating and a lot of us are feeling re-traumatised remembering [the] events and now looking at it happen all again.

"The images are almost unbelievable. It's absolutely devastating for a country that seems to go from one disaster to another."

Major transport routes which used to bring goods into Kathmandu have been severed, causing food prices to rise and electricity supplies to falter after several hydropower plants were damaged.

The government said the relief effort is now fully under way, coordinated by the army, with civilians urged to stay away from affected zones.

Tamang said the devastation stretches far beyond the initial impact site.

"It descends all the way down, cutting across Nepal," she said.

Some of the small towns next to the rivers are barely recognisable. You can't see a building standing anymore."

With more than 5,000 people still unaccounted for, social media in Nepal has filled with videos appealing for help in finding people.

Tamang said many families feared the worst, but some hope remained.

Early in the disaster, hundreds of people were rescued from hydro power plant tunnels near the border.

Relatives of the thousands of workers inside hydropower plants at the time believe some may still be sheltering underground or stranded in forested areas without communication.

Tamang said: "There's still reports of people out in the forest somewhere, unable to contact anyone.

"As the days go by, the number of missing keeps rising, but people are clinging to any hope."

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