Deadly Nepal floods leave dozens dead, Chicago-area families await news of missing loved ones
CHICAGO (WLS) -- More than 160 people have died and hundreds more remain missing after catastrophic flooding and landslides swept through northern Nepal, destroying villages, buildings and bridges and prompting an urgent search for survivors.
The disaster's impact is also being felt in Chicago's Nepalese community.
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Officials say dozens of Americans are among the missing, including at least 47 American tourists. The flooding began in Nepal's Rasuwa region, an area between Mount Everest and Annapurna that is popular with tourists for hiking routes along the border with Tibet. Floodwaters extended southwest toward the capital city of Kathmandu.
Video from the disaster shows crowds running for their lives as a massive surge of water slammed into concrete structures, swallowing nearly everything in its path. Entire villages near the Tibet border were swept away after a landslide triggered the deadly flooding.
Rescue efforts remain underway. In one scene, a woman was carried to safety by a front loader. Another video showed a man trapped on a rooftop waving down a helicopter before making a dangerous climb aboard.
The U.S. State Department said it will deploy disaster response advisors and provide funding to support relief efforts.
Among those closely monitoring the situation is Padam Giri, a former Nepalese minister who is visiting family in Chicago. He arrived in the United States two days before the deadly landslide and has been receiving updates from officials in Nepal.
Giri said the floods came with such great speed and intensity that there was not enough time for warnings to reach everyone in affected areas.
He said the region is a popular destination for hikers and religious pilgrims and serves as a major commercial gateway along the Nepal-China border.
Giri also said that right now "it is still impossible to accurately assess how many people have died or how much property and economic damage has occurred."
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Bala Ghimire, president of the Nepalese Cultural Center Chicago, said one of his relatives lost both a family home and loved ones in the flooding.
"His house was washed. His mother and father are alive because they were out of house. But killed his grandparents. And then one of the [children] disappeared. They haven't found [them] yet," Ghimire said.
As search and recovery efforts continue, officials warn the death toll is expected to rise as rescuers work through mud, debris and devastated communities. Experts say the wall of water that struck the villages unleashed as much energy as a 5.2 magnitude earthquake.
