Floods sweep away 18 people and key bridge in Nepal
Rescue efforts are under way as officials assess the damage and search for the missing people, Nepali authorities say.
An army helicopter was able to lift people stranded by the flooding.
Police said 95 rescuers were already at the area and more were expected to join in rescue efforts.
The flooding on the Bhotekoshi River destroyed the Friendship Bridge at Rasuwagadi, which is 120km north of the capital, Kathmandu, in the early hours of Tuesday.
The flooding also swept away several houses and trucks that were parked at the border for customs inspections.
Hundreds of electric vehicles imported from China were also parked at the border point.
The 18 missing are 12 Nepali citizens and six Chinese nationals, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
The destruction of the bridge has halted all trade from China to Nepal through this route.
The longer alternative is for goods to be shipped from China to India and then brought overland to Nepal.
Monsoon rains that begin in June and end in September often cause severe flooding in Nepal, disrupting infrastructure and endangering lives.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBS News
10 hours ago
- CBS News
Scattered showers, thunderstorms roll in across South Florida
South Florida is in for another round of wet weather on Wednesday. Scattered showers and storms will move across parts of South Florida with the potential for some heavy downpours and localized flooding. The Weather Prediction Center has placed Broward, and most of Miami-Dade, under a marginal (level 1) risk of flash flooding. The National Weather Service said Miami-Dade is under a flood advisory until 11:45 a.m. It said additional rainfall amounts of 1 - 3 inches are expected which could lead to minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas. Areas impacted include Miami, Hialeah, Coral Gables, South Miami, Kendall, Doral, Pinecrest, Miami Springs, Sweetwater, West Miami, Medley, Westchester, Olympia Heights, Fountainbleau, University Park, University Of Miami and Miami International Airport. Highs will climb to around 90 degrees in the afternoon, however, when the humidity is factored in, it will feel like the upper 90s and low 100s in some areas. The upper-level area of low pressure that has brought the moisture and rain over the last few days will keep the chance of rain higher on Wednesday. Some lingering moisture on Thursday will lead to some passing showers and storms. However, it will be a transitional day as Saharan dust begins to move in. The Saharan dust and drier air will continue to move in on Friday and through the weekend, lowering the chance of rain. As the rain moves out, the sizzling heat returns. Highs will soar to the low 90s and it will feel like the triple-digits when you factor in the humidity on Saturday and Sunday. The National Hurricane Center is giving the trough of low pressure near the southeastern U.S. coast a 10% chance of development as it moves west-southwestward the next few days. Regardless of development, this system will bring heavy rain to Florida and then the northern Gulf coast through this weekend.


Forbes
12 hours ago
- Forbes
How Water Companies And Architects Can Lead The Way On Sponge Cities
TOPSHOT - Residents walk on a flooded street in Morocco's Ouarzazate city on September 7, 2024. When ... More powerful thunderstorms hit Morocco's arid south, they brought deadly floods but also provided some relief to farmers as the country grapples with its worst drought in nearly 40 years. (Photo by Abderahim ELBCIR / AFP) (Photo by ABDERAHIM ELBCIR/AFP via Getty Images) As various parts of the world continue to experience extreme weather events, many authorities must now grapple with how to make cities more climate resilient. One of the leading climate resilient concepts is the sponge city, where a variety of technological and nature-based solutions can be used to absorb water flooding and future-proof developments. Urban designers and infrastructure experts are playing a key role in the debate around sponge cities, but other organisations, such as utilities also have a role to play. Earlier this year, Bentley Systems published a white paper, which highlighted how water companies could take more of a lead to develop plans to reduce surface water flooding and create more sponge cities in the process. The paper warned the cost of surface water flooding incidents in the U.K. and beyond shows how climate change is impacting towns and cities. It said it was 'essential' water management plans for towns and cities are integrated, and focus not just on the management of water, but on land and the built environment as well. Bentley Systems' vice president of infrastructure policy advancement, Mark Coates said it is important for people to know that while floods are the world's most common natural disaster, the largest flood risk people and places face in many developed nations is surface water flooding, in a statement. Coates added the U.K's Environment Agency now estimates 4.6 million properties are now at risk from surface water flooding in England, around 1.4 million more properties than in 2018. He said it is a similar situation in the U.S. One analysis shows around 18 million residents live in surface-water related floodplains in the US mainland, which is more than three times the 5.2 million residents living in floodplains caused by rivers and streams. Adam Boucher, was the operational lead operational lead for Severn Trent Water's £76 million Mansfield sustainable flooding resilience project, which was the largest retrofit profit of its kind in the U.K. Boucher said the scheme aimed to make the town of Mansfield more resilient to extreme weather events, like flooding, by providing the equivalent of 31 million liters of additional water storage through nature-based solutions. He added Mansfield was selected for a number of reasons, including issues with surface water not draining away, being in a flood risk area. Boucher added Mansfield also had the right ground conditions to ensure water could be infiltrated into the soil if properly managed. As part of the project, Severn Trent developed basins designed to separate surface water from entering the combined sewerage network during heavy rainfall and to capture water by providing additional storage capacity before entering the sewerage network. Permeable paving was also installed in carparks, walkways, and other hard surfaces to allow water to pass through and soak slowly into the ground beneath. And small rain gardens on the verges alongside local roads were also installed. These mini gardens use plants and soil to retain and slow the flow of rainwater from surrounding hard surfaces. 'This is the first time a water company has put these interventions directly into a street under its own kind of scheme,' he told me. 'So far, we have increased flood resilience for 96 households, which are now better protected. In addition, a further 128 households assessed to be risk by 2040 have been moved to a lower risk category.' And Marion Baeli, principal for sustainability and transformation at 10 Design, said other cities like Dubai are also investing in new drainage systems and retrofitting cities with the infrastructure they need to survive extreme weather events, in an interview. Baeli added while it is difficult to prepare every building and city around the world for the eventuality of an extreme weather event, it is important to carry out risk assessments and put mitigation measures in place. 'The future is going to be quite random, and it's going to be quite extreme,' she told me. Baeli added planners and decision makers will also have to rethink where the habitable zones in the future will be, as the climate changes. She said that many seasonal residents in the south of France are now temporarily relocating towards the north during the summer months, as temperatures in the south are regularly reaching 40 degrees Celsius, and on occasion going over 45 degrees. Baeli added it is also important to educate the architects of the future about resilient design, and how overheating, low energy and decarbonization go hand-in-hand. And 'Climate mitigation and good design are not just for the good of the planet. There is actually a business case you need to consider, so you can carry on benefiting from these buildings and infrastructure in the future when you know the conditions are changing.'


News24
12 hours ago
- News24
Record heat in China strains power grid, stirs health fears
China warned on Wednesday against the risk of power supply disruptions as people struggled to keep cool in record heat baking large swathes of the country, which also spurred warnings to the elderly to guard against heat stroke. Power demand exceeded 1.5 billion kilowatts for the first time last week, energy officials said, the third successive record for China this month, when its first nationwide alert on heat-related health risks also went out. "High-temperature weather will ... have an impact on power generation and supply," weather official Chen Hui told a press conference on Wednesday, adding that it would hit hydropower output and reduce the efficiency of photovoltaic generation. Authorities will send alerts to notify electricity suppliers if measures such as peak shaving and cross-regional dispatching of power are called for, added Chen, an official of the China Meteorological Administration. Over the weekend, China announced that construction had begun on what will be the world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet, at an estimated cost of at least $170 billion, cheering investors but vexing downstream neighbours India and Bangladesh. The project is expected to produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, equal to the amount of electricity consumed by Britain last year, as Beijing seeks to meet the country's growing power demand. Since mid-March, the number of days when temperatures hit 35 degrees Celsius or more is the highest on record, said Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of the National Climate Centre. Authorities asked the elderly to stay indoors unless necessary, while urging outdoor workers to scale down activity on such "sauna days". Temperatures have hit new highs since mid-March in the central provinces of Henan and Hubei, Shandong in the east, Sichuan in the southwest, and northwestern Shaanxi and Xinjiang, pushing the national average to the second highest on record. During the last two weeks, above 40°C heat enveloped 407 000 square kilometres of the country, Jia said. That is more than the land area of Germany or Japan. In the same period, roughly one in 10 national weather observatories tracked temperatures above 40°C with one in Xinjiang reaching 48.7°C. Jia did not rule out the chance of more record-breaking heat, saying August could prove as warm as, or even hotter than, in recent years.