Stories of survivors who escaped Nepal’s devastating floods

A terrifying surge of the Bhote Koshi River suddenly swept through the area on Wednesday. Some people escaped death by running. Some drove their vehicles. Others survived by clinging to electric wires. For some others, survival was simply a matter of luck. Those who watched homes, settlements and loved ones being swept away before their eyes and survived now have only one thing to say: “It feels like I have been given a new life.”

‘I survived by clinging to an electric wire’

His body covered in mud. A young man walks barefoot along a muddy road. Every step seems to be a struggle.

A photo of 36-year-old Rambachan Sah of Hajminia in Ward 2 of Rajdevi Municipality in Rautahat went viral on social media. The photo emerged after he survived the flood in Trishuli Bazaar.

Sah had worked at Shyam Sweets near the bridge for the past 15 years. He was making sweets on Wednesday morning when floodwater suddenly entered the shop.

The strong current swept him away. At one point his hand became caught on an electric wire.

He said, “I survived by clinging to the wire. It feels like I have been given a new life.”

He hung on to the wire for about half an hour. Floodwater was roaring below him.

He said, “Seeing no other way to save myself I grabbed an electric wire that was hanging nearby. I hung there for about half an hour between life and death and fought to survive. If my hand had slipped from the wire there would have been no chance for me to survive.”

The wire kept him from being swept away. Sah survived. However, three people from the shop, Sangeeta, her son Rahul and another worker Binod Bhagat, are still missing.

Sah is now staying at a friend’s house.

He said, “There may still be marks of flood mud on my body. But the fear of that morning is still completely fresh in my mind.”

His elder brother Rabindra said the family could not contact him throughout the day.

“We finally got news of him long after evening. That was when we learned that he was safe,” he said.

Sah has two young sons. Rautahat Chief District Officer Dinesh Sagar Bhusal said 12 people in the district are reportedly missing after the flood.

‘I survived but lost my uncle’s entire family’

Sachin Khati from Jhapa survived. He escaped because he was away from the settlement when the flood struck.

His 33-year-old maternal uncle Raj Kumar Diyali from Buddhashanti 2 in Jhapa had been running a jewelry business in Rasuwas Syabrubesi 5 area for the past 15 years. He lived there with his wife Shriti and their four-year-old son Shriraj. Sachin also stayed with them and helped with the business.

Raj Kumar sent Sachin to Chilime for work on Wednesday morning. After hearing about the flood Sachin quickly returned. But before he could reach the area their settlement had already been swept away by the current.

Sachin said, “My uncle sent me to Chilime for work early Wednesday morning. As soon as I heard that the flood had come, I quickly returned. But by then the entire village where we lived had been swept away.”

Sachin is now in Dhunche under the protection of the Nepal Army. There has been no news of his uncle Raj Kumar, aunt Shriti or their son Shriraj. More than the joy of surviving himself Sachin is now waiting for news of his uncle’s family.

Radha Khati, a niece of Raj Kumar, said in a tearful voice, “Even if they are not alive we hope to at least find their bodies. The whole family is waiting for them.”

The Jhapa District Police Office said 13 people from the district who had gone to Rasuwa for work, business or employment have been unreachable since the flood.

‘I was ahead and the flood was right behind me’

Raj Kumar Karki of Fedigaun in Ward 2 of Thaha Municipality in Makwanpur survived by driving ahead before the flood arrived.

He had reached Betrawati in Nuwakot on Tuesday. The following morning he was preparing to head toward Timure to load goods. At that moment he heard a warning over the loudspeaker: “The flood is coming, the flood is coming.”

Karki turned his container truck around and began driving toward Galchhi. A short while later he saw a massive wave of floodwater rushing toward him and increased the speed of his vehicle.

Vehicles and drivers ahead of him were swept away by the current. Among them was another container truck driven by Kiran Bhujel.

Karki said, “The flood was behind me and I was ahead. I survived by racing ahead of the raging Bhote Koshi River. I drove as fast as possible to escape. About nine container trucks and their drivers who were behind me had already been swept away.”

Karki continued driving even as he saw the floodwater rushing toward him in the side mirror. Before reaching Dhunge Bazaar in Trishuli he drove the truck up toward the mountain.

“This is how both the truck and I survived. I somehow managed to escape with my life.”

He spent the night on a mountain slope. From there he watched Betrawati and surrounding settlements being destroyed. A large part of the town was turned into a riverbed. He watched his friends disappear into the Trishuli River before his eyes.

With the help of security personnel Karki safely reached Kathmandu on Thursday. He returned to his home in Ward 2 of Thaha Municipality on Friday afternoon.

Karki is 36 years old and has been a professional driver for 20 years. He owns a container truck. For the past five years he has been transporting goods from Rasuwa to different parts of the country.

The truck is now safely kept at his home. But the scenes he witnessed that day have not yet disappeared from his mind.

‘It still feels like it was all a dream’

Salian’s Gothe Kami was working near the 216-megawatt Upper Trishuli 1 Hydropower Project in Mailung of Rasuwa on Wednesday morning. Suddenly he heard a sound like rocks rolling down from the mountain.

He then saw the Bhote Koshi River rushing toward them.

Kami, 40, of Ward 1 of Kumakh Rural Municipality, told everyone to run. He also ran up a forest covered mountain slope about 500 meters above sea level. His heartbeat quickened. At one point he briefly lost consciousness.

After regaining consciousness he saw that the settlement below had been buried. He could hear people screaming as they tried to escape.

He said, “That was when I realized that I had survived. It still feels like it was all a dream. I can still see the entire incident before my eyes.”

Kami said his experience of running down steep mountain slopes while herding cattle and goats as a child helped him escape.

“Seeing the devastation caused by the flood made me feel that I was going to die. Fortunately, I survived. It feels like I have been given a new life.”

‘Running toward the forest saved me’

Raju Budhathoki, a customs representative from Ward 13 of Manthali Municipality in Ramechhap, was resting at his home in Timure. At around 8:30 a.m. the mountain slope suddenly began to shake.

He said, “I was sleeping. Suddenly I felt as if there had been an earthquake. The entire mountain began to shake.” He said this while receiving treatment in Trishuli. “There was no time to think. I ran outside to save my life.”

He was running toward a police post. But he saw that the police officers were also fleeing from there. When he looked back he saw houses in Timure collapsing in the floodwater. Some houses disappeared into the Trishuli River within seconds.

He said, “I reached a forest about 500 meters above the settlement. That is where I eventually survived. Looking toward Timure I never thought I would get a second chance in life. The entire incident now feels like a terrifying dream.”

‘I have returned with a new life’

Prakash Gautam from Gokarneshwor in Kathmandu was also in Timure. The entire settlement suddenly shook after a tremendous sound.

Gautam said, “Within moments the entire settlement became dark. The sky was covered with black clouds. I had no idea where to go. I simply ran outside to save my life.”

While escaping he injured the little toe of his left foot. From the forest he saw bodies floating in the floodwater. Timure had turned into a pile of rubble.

“Houses and the entire settlement have been swept away. Now there is only a huge layer of sand there,” he said.

Gautam and others spent Wednesday night in the forest. They spent the night eating instant noodles dropped from a Nepal Army helicopter.

They were taken to Bidur by a Nepal Army helicopter at around 10 a.m. Thursday.

He said, “It was only after getting on the helicopter that I first felt that perhaps I would survive this time. I have returned with a new life.”

‘If that wave had not been there, I would not be alive today’

As a powerful flood wave swept a stream of black mud and water over a settlement in Rasuwa it threw Dolkha’s Tulsi Bahadur Bhandari toward a mountain slope. That is how he survived.

Lying on a hospital bed Bhandari said, “Suddenly the buildings began collapsing. We could not understand where this stream of black mud and water had come from.”

He began to run. But the flood current caught him.

He said, “The wave struck me with tremendous force and threw me far away.”

Bhandari said, “If that wave had not thrown me toward the mountain slope I would not be alive today. By pushing me to the side it miraculously saved me from being swept away by the current.”

Source: The Kathmandu Post (Adapted)