Baek Sun-mi, a Korean resident of Nepal, described her fear of further flood damage in a phone interview with Seoul Economic Daily on the 28th. "I heard that a lake near the affected area is overflowing," Baek said. "Himalayan glaciers could melt again, so it feels like walking on thin ice."
As deaths and disappearances mount from massive flooding in the Himalayan mountains near Nepal's border, anxiety is growing among Korean residents there. Baek, who lives in Kathmandu, first learned of the flooding through videos posted on social media. "It was shocking to see water engulf a village in an instant," she said. "Even now, mounds of earth keep washing down in the flood-hit areas."
Local residents agreed the scale of this flooding was unusual. "Many people lost family members and relatives to the sudden flood, and even the homes they lived in," said Siri, a Nepal resident. "Compared with floods over the past 10 to 20 years, this is the first time the damage has been this severe."
Samuel Dhakal, a Nepali national staying in South Korea, is anxiously awaiting news of two acquaintances who worked as trekking guides. They lost contact while leading a pilgrimage group heading through the Rasuwa district toward Mount Kailash in Tibet. "All I hear is that rescue teams and police are still searching, so I'm waiting and holding on to hope," Samuel said. "There's nothing I can do from Korea, and that weighs on me terribly."
Samuel, who worked as a professional trekking guide in the Himalayas for 15 years, said: "This flood swept up gravel, sand and even trees and pushed them all at once into narrow valleys. The only way to escape is to climb up the mountain, but the slopes are steep and the water was so fast that people probably had no time to get out of the way."
The local Korean community has also been gripped by a somber mood after nine South Koreans from Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility went missing at a hydroelectric plant construction site. "The Korean community group chat, usually lively, went quiet after news spread that residents were missing," Baek said. "No one can say much; we're just waiting for news."
The Korean Association in Nepal is in continued contact with the Nepali government to locate the missing South Koreans. "The water has receded considerably since the flood passed, but in some places the mud comes up to your waist," said Eom Jin-yong, president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Nepal. "Access to the affected areas is restricted, so it's hard to assess conditions on the ground directly."
The actual damage is expected to be far greater than officially reported. Deaths across Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region have exceeded 472, with more than 1,500 missing, and the toll could climb further once unconfirmed damage is accounted for.
The problem is that rescue work is proving difficult. "The gorges are narrow and there are concerns about secondary flooding, so it's not easy for helicopters to come and go," Baek said. "I don't even know how many months recovery will take." Eom said: "Access by road is difficult and it's not easy for rescue teams to move. The urgent task is to mobilize every available means, military or civilian helicopters, to rescue the people in the affected areas as soon as possible."
