Posted on 08/31/2026 10:17:47 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Rescuers raced Monday to free hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower sites that were buried in mud by catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-China border, as the death toll climbed and increasingly desperate families searched for missing loved ones.
“These tunnels are big enough to drive trucks through,” said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. “And from what we understand, they have managed to get oxygen to some of those stuck inside and are trying to rescue them now. It’s a race for time, though, as people need food and water.”
In the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, in the hard-hit Rasuwa district, at least 576 people were missing, Dangi said, adding that around 300 of them were believed to be trapped inside the project’s tunnel.
At the Trishuli-3 Hydropower Project, crews were working to descend about 15 meters (50 feet) into a tunnel in an effort to reach those believed trapped inside, according to Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, Nepal’s army spokesman.
Workers shoveling mud from a flood-ravaged power station in Dhading, Nepal, told The Associated Press that the stat
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
China caused this flooding ?
Just like Chernobyl.
“It was cheapeer”
“it’s not 3 roetngens per hour, it’s 20,000” (the original sensor maxed out at 3)
The seismic event wasn't an earthquake, but rather part of the mountain and glacier falling some 8K feet to the valley below. There was a second landslide that occurred about 3 hours later that regressed as a 4+ earthquake. The theory is the first landslide undercut hillside where the second landslide occurred.
Yes. Death toll is going to rise dramatically.
if anyone has not seen the video yet, its stunning!
The initial wave was not like a tsunami coming in to shore in asia, it seemed to be a wall of mud 3 times taller than a 4 story building in the foreground. .
Although it’s not mentioned in the article, I’m guessing that these workers are related to the world’s largest hydro power project being funded and built by China.
Nope a totally differnt river. These are relatively small dams as China dams go. The region has almost 300 built or in process dam projects.
There was a lake called Glacier Lake which was dammed up by ice.
Then there was an earthquake that loosened the ice, the natural dam gave way and the whole lake barreled downhill.
The Three Gorges Dam is bending?
For how long was the water blocked by the landslide debris? Or how large was this new lake, how long did it fill up? It seems like a tremendous amount of water. This didn’t happen overnight as some people are saying, it doesn’t seem to me. Could be wrong, often am.
It’s China. Commies don’t care how many people die for the glorious revolution. And being that it happened in Nepal? Nepal is just another slice of their sausage to bring that territory under the control of China. China DOES NOT CARE.
What happened to all the “Free Tibet” bumper stickers???
This all occurred in a very narrow valley. Picture a deep, high sided V. The glacier collapse must have filled a substantial portion of the V. The river is a high-flow, large volume waterway. The water quickly built up to a large volume.
Meanwhile, the buildings were built close to the bottom of the V in areas the river had, over century’s, dug out. When the glacier plug broke, the raging water picked up boulders and debris and rapidly filled the V shape to a much higher level than it had occupied in the past.
The whole event, from plug to break, probably took a short time. We in America are used to placid, slow moving broad rivers passing through large open plains. It’s hard for us to imagine living somewhere where the only piece of flat land is on display in a museum.
“The water quickly built up to a large volume”
How quickly, though? Hours, days, weeks?
“How quickly, though? Hours, days, weeks?”
If I had given such a number when I wrote for the Tallahassee Democrat, the editor would have deleted it. If it didn’t have “human interest” it hit the editor’s floor. Unless we see a geological report, we’re not likely to read anything that doesn’t involve an injured child or a rescued puppy.
About. Days?, Weeks? Months? Years?
It’s an amazing amount of water released very quickly, I’m just skeptical that it accumulated in as little as hours as some are claiming. I mean, maybe. Just seems to strain credulity.
Nepal Disaster Update: Where Did All the Water Come From + A Second Landslide? By Geology professor Shawn Willsey. It lasts about 25 minutes. His current working theory is the initial collapse fell ~4K feet into a second glacier and the debris fell another ~3K feet into the river below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILngACgq4w8
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