Death toll rises to 148 in Nepal due to severe monsoon rains

Residents of Nepal’s flood-stricken capital returned to their mud-covered homes on Sunday to assess the damage caused by severe floods that have claimed at least 148 lives across the country.

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains are common in South Asia during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September. However, experts warn that climate change is making these disasters more frequent and intense.

Over the weekend, entire neighborhoods in Kathmandu were submerged, with flash floods hitting rivers that flow through the capital and causing widespread damage to highways that connect the city with the rest of Nepal.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that 148 people have died across the country, with 59 still missing. Rishi Ram Tiwari, a spokesperson for the Home Ministry, told AFP that bulldozers are being used to clear highways blocked by debris, cutting off Kathmandu from other parts of Nepal. “More than 3,000 people have been rescued,” he added.

At least 36 victims were in three vehicles that were buried when a landslide sent earth tumbling onto a highway south of Kathmandu, according to Nepal Police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki.

The valley surrounding the capital saw 240mm (9.4 inches) of rain in the 24 hours leading up to Saturday morning, the country’s weather bureau told the Kathmandu Post, marking the highest rainfall in Kathmandu since at least 1970.