A flash flood tore through Nepal's Gorkha district in the Budhi Gandaki valley after a pre-dawn landslide on October 11 blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, triggering severe downstream flooding that destroyed homes, roads and bridges in the worst-affected Chumanubri rural municipality, according to an October 20 report on the disaster.

River levels surged from about 2 metres to nearly 8.5 metres within hours, the report said, citing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), which put the damage at 204 homes and more than 650 people affected. Part of a hydropower station was also damaged.

Houses swept away, trekkers stranded

Wire reports carried by MENAFN said flash flooding in Gorkha district swept away an estimated 35 to 40 houses early on Sunday along the Budhi Gandaki River, devastating settlements in the Chumnubri and Dharche rural municipalities, damaging bridges and critical infrastructure, and prompting emergency rescue and evacuation operations. More than 100 international trekkers were trapped in the mountainous district after the floods destroyed bridges and damaged hiking trails, the reports said, citing local authorities.

The Gorkha floods come about two months after catastrophic flooding and landslides devastated parts of Nepal near the border with Tibet, and they again expose how a single landslide blocking a Himalayan river can turn into a downstream disaster for villages and trekking routes within hours.

Authorities launched emergency rescue and evacuation operations in the affected municipalities, the wire reports said, as the stranded trekkers and displaced residents waited for damaged trails and bridges to be made passable again.