# Extreme flooding in Nepal and into China **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587 "2026-08-27T02:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/1 "2026-08-27T02:11:45Z")
Videos are showing [spectacular devastation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJm-W4gilSg) - 20-meter-high walls of water. Cause unclear - may be the collapse of a glacial lake. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/2 "2026-08-27T02:33:10Z")
OMG! What a nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/3 "2026-08-27T02:35:57Z")
I haven’t followed this story very closely, but I did see that seismographs picked up a 5-ish tremor. The experts believe that the landslide was the CAUSE of the tremor, not the result of it. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/4 "2026-08-27T02:44:39Z")
Looks like a giant glacier chunk broke off and fell into the river. Actually originated in Tibet (eg. China) where the river is the national border. Then vast majority of the river and the damage then flows through Nepal towards the Indian Ocean. One video I saw showed the Chinese port/border crossing between Nepal and Tibet getting blasted. [Nepal Flash Flood Map: Areas Hit, Missing People, Road Closure…](https://www.ibtimes.sg/nepal-flash-flood-map-areas-hit-missing-people-road-closures-latest-updates-92878) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/5 "2026-08-27T02:56:31Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > Cause unclear - may be the collapse of a glacial lake. Their best guess is a landslide. US Geological survey says there was no earthquake. This is still being investigated though so no one is 100% what happened yet. > What caused the devastation? A powerful landslide blocked the Bhote Koshi river, sending a torrent of water downstream from China to Nepal. A group of scientists believe a glacier may have broken off and fallen into the valley below, which triggered or at least compounded the effect of the landslide. - [SOURCE](https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/26/world/live-news/nepal-flash-flooding-floods-intl) ---
**Author:** ![doomtastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@doomtastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomtastic)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/6 "2026-08-27T03:29:35Z")
> **[Dr Dan Shugar 🇨🇦 (@watershedlab.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/watershedlab.bsky.social/post/3mty5haduvk2j)** > > The source of the flood in Nepal is a collapsed glacier 🧪⚒️ > > \[contains quote post or other embedded content\] Visualization of the affected area providing additional evidence it was a glacier collapse. The one video I had the stomach to watch was horrendous. Those poor people… edit: the actual visualization isn’t showing so have to click through if you want to see for yourself. It’s a short clip where he’s swapping between satellite footage of before/after to highlight the section of the mountain that gave way ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/7 "2026-08-27T06:51:54Z")
Urgh, I spent two wonderful weeks in Nepal. Thinking of some of the incredibly friendly and lovely locals I met really makes my heart wrench even more. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/8 "2026-08-27T10:59:41Z")
Watching the port get overtaken looked like a movie. I wasn’t expecting the water to be that high; I was expecting maybe a couple feet of water through that port gate. Not… That. All those poor people. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/9 "2026-08-27T11:16:17Z")
So heartbreaking. I’ve also been to Nepal, twice, two months each time. We returned so hubs could do the Annapurna circuit. While I took a course at a Buddhist monastery in Kopan. I wept each time I saw, ever more frightening, footage throughout the day. Nepal has suffered so much from violent earthquakes, floods etc, through the years. You can leave Nepal. But Nepal never leaves you. (The latest tourist slogan, honestly sooo true!) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/10 "2026-08-27T16:23:30Z")
I’m reading that the mudslide traveled for 40 miles - which is utterly midblowing. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/11 "2026-08-28T12:19:50Z")
Here’s a [France24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORPDEvHJZpA) video that gives a pretty good explanation of the origin and progress of the debris flow. Its initial speed was over 150 kph (some sources say 200). The destruction it caused along the valley floor is pretty much total - hard to see how more than a small fraction of the people who were located there can have survived. It’s reported that five or six hydro-power dams were destroyed. A concern now is the possibility that sections of the river dammed by the debris form lakes that are unstable: these can collapse, producing additional flooding. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/12 "2026-08-28T12:26:25Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I’m reading that the mudslide traveled for 40 miles … And there’s this (from this [Wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Nepal_floods)): > The flood carried the bodies of some victims 240 km (150 mi) away ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/13 "2026-08-28T13:55:19Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > Videos are showing [spectacular devastation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJm-W4gilSg) - 20-meter-high walls of water. I have never been so grateful for the editorial decision to blur out some content. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/14 "2026-08-29T04:07:28Z")
The landslide was big enough to register around 5 on the Richter scale (or whatever it’s called nowadays). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/15 "2026-08-29T04:11:53Z")
I saw the footage of the wall of water overtaking the 5-story building, and the parking ramp with buses at the top, uncensored. CNN had a red banner at the top of the screen that said, “Warning: Disturbing Content.” ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/16 "2026-08-29T04:17:57Z")
I did not see that one but I saw uncensored footage from a building’s security camera that showed people running past what looked like a place where lots and lots of busses were parked. At first you see nothing but people running and then wham…in comes that wall of water. Easily pushing the busses out of the way like toys and tossing them in a second and then smashing a dock and throwing it onto land. It was astonishing to see…then I realized I just saw a dozen or more people die. It is unfathomable they didn’t and no chance to get away. It happened so fast and was so overwhelming. They never had a chance. Of course, that was just one little slice of the destruction this thing did. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/17 "2026-08-29T11:53:59Z")
The total number missing is in the multiple thousands. And with vanishingly few exceptions, missing amounts to dead. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/18 "2026-08-29T18:52:36Z")
Something like eleven bridges were taken out. In such mountainous territory bridges are lifelines. It means food and aid can’t get to those suffering the most. And that won’t change anytime soon unfortunately. My heart breaks for the Nepalese people. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/19 "2026-08-29T22:18:25Z")
The “disturbing content” footage was that one, exactly. I saw it in some footage on YouTube, and some areas were blurred out. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587/20 "2026-08-29T22:19:15Z")
I’m afraid you’re going to be correct. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extreme-flooding-in-nepal-and-into-china/1032587.md?page=2)