Nepal discussed cross-border warnings only three months before deadly floods, officials say Chinese data fell short

Nepal and China discussed a cross-border disaster warning system in Kathmandu three months before devastating floods and landslides struck the Nepal-Tibet border. Nepalese officials now say the information shared afterward did not provide the detail needed for timely warnings.

The May 27 meeting brought together 10 Nepalese and about 12 Chinese officials and experts, including representatives from Tibet. They discussed monitoring floods, weather and glacier-related hazards, along with joint measures such as a glacier-lake inventory and disaster-risk maps.

Two Nepalese officials said the glacier-risk and water-level data received from China after the meeting fell short of expectations. Chinese representatives delayed a formal cooperation agreement, saying they had not received authorization from Beijing to sign it.

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The most urgent need is to understand early signs of upstream glacier activity so downstream settlements can prepare for evacuation.

Nepalese hydrologist Sauhardra Joshi said the most urgent need was information on early signs of glacier activity, which could give downstream communities time to evacuate. Hydrologist Binod Parajuli said China began sending Tibetan heavy-rain forecasts through WeChat and email about a month before the disaster and issued a monsoon low-pressure warning 12 days beforehand. But he said data on avalanche activity, real-time river levels and landslides were missing.

China’s embassy in Nepal said on X that the May meeting had made substantive progress on sharing cross-border disaster information. It also said difficult conditions in remote mountain areas made monitoring extremely challenging and that Chinese teams shared important information promptly.

The floods killed nearly 800 people and left more than 3,000 missing, while reconstruction costs are estimated at 10% of Nepal’s gross domestic product. Nepalese officials are seeking a new agreement modeled on cooperation with India, expanding beyond weather forecasts to automatic rainfall and river-level data every 10 minutes. Their stated aim is to avoid missing future warning opportunities.

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Our main goal is not to miss any future disasters.