Nepal Residents Panic as Evacuation Ordered Again Amid Flash Flood Alert

A woman affected by flash floods and landslides arrives at Barak Maithali, a military training centre in Trishuli, Nuwakot District, Nepal, on Friday (28/8/2026). Authorities asked residents to leave the area after a lake formed by a landslide on the Nepal-Tibet border began to overflow. The situation threatens areas already devastated by flash floods two days earlier.

Rescue teams temporarily halted operations in the Trishuli area. Officers used loudspeakers and whistles to direct residents away from zones deemed dangerous, while monitoring of water conditions continued.

The lake was formed by landslide material that dammed water flow after a glacier collapse triggered a landslide in the Nepal-Tibet border region. Drone footage released by Chinese authorities on Thursday (27/8/2026) showed the extent of the lake formed behind the natural dam.

Chinese rescue teams resumed operations on Friday after authorities assessed that risks in the border area remained “manageable”. Operations had previously been suspended over concerns that the landslide dam could burst and send a large flow of water downstream.

The lake began overflowing on Friday morning, triggering new warnings for communities downstream in Nepal. Authorities on both sides of the border stepped up monitoring as water levels continued to rise.

The situation comes as Nepal still grapples with the impact of devastating floods that struck two days earlier. The disaster reportedly killed 489 people and left nearly 1,000 others missing in Nepal and China’s Tibet region.

Amid the situation, Nepal said it did not yet require search and rescue assistance from abroad, although several countries had offered help because their citizens were still reported missing due to the disaster.