World News
NEPAL FLOODS: SURVIVORS RETURN TO FIND THEIR HOMES AND TOWN BURIED IN MUD
Weeks after devastating floods and mudslides struck Nepal’s northern border region, survivors are returning to the places they once called home only ...
By Patience
In Betrawati, a small town in Nuwakot district, the destruction has been so extensive that entire sections of the community have disappeared beneath mud, rocks and debris.
For many residents, the search is no longer simply about recovering belongings. Families are also looking for relatives who remain missing after the disaster.
A TOWN LOST BENEATH THE DEBRIS
Among those returning to Betrawati is 23-year-old Anusa Thapa Magar, who travelled back from her job in the Maldives after learning about the floods.
She had hoped to find her grandmother and return to the family’s two-storey home.
Instead, she found the area buried beneath a wide stretch of hardened mud.
Her grandmother, who had difficulty walking, was last seen resting at home before the disaster. Magar now faces the painful possibility that her grandmother could still be buried beneath the debris.
The scene is similar for other survivors who walk from temporary shelters to what remains of their former neighbourhoods, searching through the destruction for belongings, familiar structures and signs of missing relatives.
SURVIVORS SEARCH FOR ANYTHING THEY CAN RECOVER
The disaster swept mud and rocks through communities along the affected areas near the Nepal-China border, destroying homes and disrupting entire settlements.
Those who survived have been living in temporary shelters while returning periodically to search the remains of their communities.
In some places, there is little to distinguish what was once a residential area from the surrounding landscape. Homes, shops and other structures have been covered or swept away, leaving large stretches of grey silt and debris.
For displaced families, even small objects recovered from the wreckage can provide a connection to lives that disappeared almost overnight.
THOUSANDS REMAIN UNACCOUNTED FOR
The destruction has also left families waiting for information about relatives who have not been found.
Nepal's disaster response authorities have continued recovery and identification efforts as search teams work through difficult terrain and large quantities of debris.
Earlier estimates indicated that thousands of people remained missing following the disaster, while the number of homes requiring reconstruction has also reached tens of thousands.
The scale of the destruction has made recovery particularly difficult, with search teams having to work across damaged settlements, river areas and infrastructure affected by the floods.
LIFE IN TEMPORARY SHELTERS
Survivors who lost their homes have been staying in temporary settlements while authorities and aid organisations work to provide assistance.
For many families, however, returning home is no longer an immediate possibility.
The loss extends beyond buildings. Families have lost personal possessions, businesses, community spaces and, in many cases, loved ones whose whereabouts remain unknown.
As recovery efforts continue, survivors face the difficult task of rebuilding their lives while still waiting for answers about those who disappeared.
A LONG ROAD AHEAD
The destruction in Betrawati and other affected communities illustrates the scale of the challenge facing Nepal after the floods.
For residents whose homes were completely buried or swept away, rebuilding will require more than replacing damaged structures. Many must first determine what happened to missing relatives and recover whatever remains of their previous lives.
For now, survivors continue returning to the debris, searching through the remnants of communities that once stood where only mud and rubble remain.