Nepal floods leave more than 1,100 dead as rescuers search for thousands

More than 1,100 people have died after a catastrophic flash flood struck the border region between Nepal and Tibet, while more than 4,600 people remain missing. Rescue workers are still searching through the aftermath.

On Aug. 26, a huge mass of water, mud and debris tore through a narrow Himalayan valley. It carried away entire villages, bridges and hydropower plants as the flood moved across the country. The disaster was probably triggered by a glacier collapse.

Experts have long warned that climate change is making extreme events in the Himalayas more likely and more severe. The risk of infectious disease is also rising in the affected region, adding another challenge for people involved in the response.

One of the rescuers is Thomas Meier of the Nepali aid organization HDCS. He describes conditions on the ground and the difficulties facing rescue teams in the podcast “Was jetzt?”.

The episode also asks how secure Germany’s critical infrastructure is. German electricity supplies came under attack twice in one day this week. Unknown people used homemade aircraft and conductive material to cause two short circuits at high-voltage lines near the Turnow-Preilack substation in Brandenburg. A deliberate short circuit at a substation in Bergheim near Cologne also forced lignite power units offline. No power outages followed, and it remains unclear whether the incidents were connected or who was responsible.