Nepal–Tibet floods in maps, photos and videos
As a mass of glacial water crashed through the mountains and valleys of the Nepalese and Tibetan border, survivors and CCTV cameras filmed extraordinary videos. Even satellites captured the scale of the disaster.
Hundreds of people were killed and at least 1,500 more are missing, including dozens of Australians, after river levels rose by up to 9 metres within just 30 minutes.
The flash flooding is believed to have been caused by the collapse of a glacier, adding to the growing list of mass casualty disasters linked to climate change.
ABC News Verify has mapped some of the key videos showing the water’s destructive path through the mountainous region.
Location of Rasuwagadhi border point video.
1. CCTV from Rasuwagadhi border point
CCTV captured the moments before a wall of water crashed through the Rasuwagadhi border point in the Himalayan mountain range.
People can be seen desperately running away, and cars attempting to leave just seconds before the flash flood hit. A multi-storey building is then enveloped in dark water and debris.
Location of Upper Trushuli Hydropower project.
2. Upper Trishuli Hydropower project
Thirty kilometres downstream the floodwaters swept away a gate under construction at the 216-megawatt hydro-electric plant in Rasuwa District.
People along the Trishuli River blew whistles to sound the alarm and climbed the banks to attempt escape.
Location of Trishuli bridge video.
3. Trishuli bridge
The muddy water can then be seen rushing towards a bridge spanning the river in the town of Trishuli.
Filmed from a vantage point high above town, the scale of the flash flood can be seen as it smashes through the upstream bridge, washing it away completely 36 seconds into the clip.
Location of Trishuli ground level video.
4. Ground level in Trishuli
Filmed from inside a bus, just slightly downstream from the last video, the sheer panic of people in the same town of Trishuli can be seen and heard as the water hits two bridges.
Children can be heard screaming as the bus races along a road running adjacent to the river bank.
Location of Dhadingbesi Bridge video.
5. Dhadingbesi Bridge
A further 30km downstream, this single-lane concrete bridge near the Nepalese town of Kalidaha did not stand a chance against the raging river.
A crowd of people filming the brown water can be heard shouting as the remnants of other bridges and structures are washed past.
- * *
Amid the ruins, there are also stories of survival.
Police officers have been seen carrying a survivor to safety at Trishuli in Nepal’s Nuwakot district.
Satellite imagery gives the clearest picture of just how dramatically the landscape has changed.
This is the Trishuli River that runs through Nepal’s Syapru Besi before the disaster.
The sheer amount of water quickly caused the river to swell before breaking its banks and flooding nearby areas.
It is a similar story near multiple waterways throughout the region.
In nearby Kolpurtar the river overflowed, causing a wide path of destruction.
Elsewhere, in Betrawoti Bazaar, a river runs through the heart of the area.
But it is nearly unrecognisable now due to the flooding.
It will be a race against time for emergency responders to save what, and who, has been buried in the devastation.
Nepalese rescue helicopters have been unable to land in the affected areas until the waters recede, an army spokesperson said.
Witnesses have told media on the ground that they watched entire villages get swept away, adding “there is devastation everywhere we look”.
_Satellite imagery courtesy of Planet Labs PBC._
Odyssey format byABC News Story Lab
1 of 5