The Current - Canadians missing after deadly flash floods in Nepal

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

Hundreds are dead and thousands are missing in Nepal, including 30 Canadians and permanent residents, after catastrophic flash floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday. Climate scientists say as global warming continues to melt glaciers in the Himalayas, disasters like this in the mountainous region are increasing in scale and frequency. We speak with a local aid worker on the ground to get the latest on what support is needed, and a climate scientist on how the flooding started. Then, we hear from a Nepalese Canadian who is trying to get in touch with missing friends in Nepal, and find out what support the diaspora in Canada needs

It wasn't too long ago that much of Canada's political class was united in their embrace of immigration to help grow the population and with it the economy. Now, many of those same people are singing a different tune, arguing that Canada's immigration consensus is broken. I'm Jamie Poisson, host of the Daily News podcast Frontburner, where we recently took a closer look at the political 180 on immigration. Check it out on the front burner feed wherever you get your podcast. This is a CBC podcast. I'm Susan Ormiston, and this is the current podcast. My family members were swept away by the flood in front of my eyes.

My father, my mother, sister and her kids are all swept away. They could not escape the flood. There was no chance at all. That's what happened to thousands of people in northern Nepal this week. More than 500 people are dead, and over 50,000. 1,500 remain missing after catastrophic flash flooding. Massive waves of water and mud crashed through towns, washing away buildings, roads, bridges, everything in the flood's path.

Local officials are just beginning to take stock of the destruction. Looking at the flood on the villages and all the settlements, I'm really terrified that this is one of the biggest devastation that had ever happened in Nepal. The mountainous area along the Nepal-Tibet border is a popular. trekking destination for tourists and religious pilgrims. 30 Canadians are among those missing. Mona Sherpa is the country director for the humanitarian aid organization, CARE Nepal. She joins us from Mustang, a border town near the affected region in Nepal. Mona, good morning. Hello. What can you tell us about the situation in the worst affected area today?

A situation is still challenging as from the first day access, be it road or communication or electricity that is still there. It hasn't improved. A significant destruction has happened. But also in the current emergency context, search and rescue operation remains the highest priority. Nepal government has mobilized Nepal army, Nepal police and armed police force along with the community volunteers. But then it's still not enough. So we have started hearing, like, you know, news of that weird smell coming out because of the decomposed animals and bodies. So that was what, like, you know, our mobilized team member from the partner organization and our troop said.

So water, shelter, you know, those things are still the problem because most of the water, systems, you know, it's broken because of the flash flood. But along with that, there are several people, especially the loss of lives, people missing, infrastructure damage. And that has really created issue to, you know, deploy our care package for emergency to the affected community in a proper manner. It sounds devastating. Mona, how are you able to get aid to survivors with these roads and infrastructure so severely damaged? What KERNNNAPAL has done is because of our continued engagement with NDRRMA, the Nepal National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority,

and when they were sending relief items to the location, we coordinated with them, and along with that, like, you know, we sent our TIR package for emergency, which has five different kits like SELTA, safe drinking water, like kitchen utensils, tarpaulins, dignity kit, high zinc kit, and also the solar panel because right now

the electricity and other like communication has been a problem. And it has already reached Dunce, a Rasua district. Generally what everyone is doing is till the point it's accessible,

they are sending relief items and then from there the helicopters have to take it to the specific areas. So because of this difficulty also like everybody like you know

who survived and who have decided in a safer places have not received relief items or needed, even like ready to eat food or safe drinking water in a proper manner. So that's the issue. So still so difficult to access the area. And we're learning that there was also a threat from a glacial lake that may overflow or has overflowed impeding rescue efforts. What do you hear about that?

Yes, the information that we have received from the Atyoree, that they are mimicking around for the people, especially on the downstream, to evacuate the areas and go to the higher, safer places. But then it's very traumatizing.

You may, like, you know, to be safe, leave your house and all. But thereafter, if anything happens, and just like in day one, if settlements and everythings are swapped away, you know, it will be very difficult for them to find a proper place to continue staying for the rest of the time till the time,

like, you know, the recovery and other support comes in. But along with that, what I also want to tell is from our partners, we have heard that families, you know, there aren't any families who have not missed people. They want to stay together with the family. But in this situation, it's not possible as well. And there's somewhere it does, like, you know, sound like it's not that dignified or that, you know, favorable for the family members and which has really given them distress, mental trauma and all. And it's just the beginning, Mona, this is your work humanitarian aid, you're used to crises, but it must be very personal in this, in your own country.

Yes. I have been like, you know, I feel like there are two knots on my throat and in my stomach. But then as a leader of the humanitarian organization, you need to do what you need to do. So from the day one, like, you know, we started working on this whole emergency effort. The good thing is we already had stockpiled our care package for emergency. So we could immediately coordinate with the government and dispatch it to the affected areas. But then, yes, you know, 2015 earthquake experience and also several other disaster that we have managed and face. here also what I would like to say is while immediate life-saving assistance is critical and it's definite,

but the earlier experience, it really tells that recovery can take years. Because entire settlements have been reportedly, like, you know, been swapped away. Infrastructure has been severely damaged. Livelihoods have been disrupted. And this area where disaster that last flood happened is the very key economic and touristic, like, you know, hub. for the country itself. It's going to be a long road ahead. Mona, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for giving this opportunity and be able to share the update from the ground. Mona Sherpa is the country director for the Global Humanitarian Organization, CARE Nepal. Scientists are trying to understand how these floods started. David Potter is the head of the Regional Action and Global Advocacy Group at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development.

It's an organisation that studies the impact of climate change on glaciers in the Himalayas. He joins us from Kathmandu. David Potter, good morning. Good morning, Susan. David, what do we know so far about what triggered these floods? Well, we can't definitively say yet exactly what happened, but what seems likely is that this was caused by an avalanche of glacial ice mixed with rock, a huge, huge avalanche. And what we've seen in other parts of the Himalayas is that where glacial ice has been, in effect, sticking together the rocks of the large mountain faces. This ice has been retreating, has been melting.

And as it melts, it's revealed the rock beneath. And that has also thawed out. Permanently frozen rock has become unfrozen and instable. So what's possible to have happened here is that this process has happened on a very large scale across this piece of mountainside on Langtang Lurung. That piece of instable rock and ice has failed. It's collapsed and it's come thundering down the valley and into the river at the bottom of the valley. And that's created this huge storm surge, this flash flood that we saw this week. What would make the mountain rock and permafrost under that glacier give way?

Well, permafrost is where rock and the upper layer of the land is permanently frozen. And what that does is it basically holds together. It's like glue. It sticks together that rock layer. And while we can't say for certain in this case, what we are seeing elsewhere is that when this permafrost layer melts, temperatures across the mountains are rising. and that's increasing the rate of melting, then this is causing this instability. We do know that temperature rises in the Himalayas, in the high mountains, are at a greater

rate than the average around the world. So we're seeing fast melting rates in these glaciers. And in fact, during the 2010s, the melting rates, according to our evidence, was around 65% faster than in the 2000s. and that process of increasing melting is speeding up. We're trying to get an idea, a mental image of the scale of the water from that collapsed glacier. We're hearing, you know, as much as nine meter rise in waters within 30 minutes along one of those rivers. How unusual is that?

I mean, this is extremely unusual. this kind of flash flood caused by either the process I've described or other processes related to melting or seismic activity are relatively common in the Himalayas, but an event of this size is very uncommon. And it's particularly uncommon for that aspect of face to fail in the way that it did. So this is huge, absolutely huge. And I don't know if you've seen any of the videos circulating on the internet, but you can really get a sense that this would have been a huge shocking event that was very difficult to see coming for the people who are living in this valley. And the wall of water would have been enormous. It was enormous. It was big enough to engulf whole villages and overwhelm whole buildings.

And so fast. You know, I'm reflecting that three years ago, you, you know, you know, know well that the UN's top scientific advisory body warned that things like this could happen, that floods, landslides, and freshwater shortages from glacier retreat and snow pose a serious threat to mountain regions around the world. Someone has said that Nepal's catastrophe is not Nepal's warning alone. Could we see this in other areas of the world? Absolutely, yes. And in fact, we are seeing this in parts of the Alps and in other mountain ranges around the world. However, one issue with the Himalayas particularly is, as we know, this valley was heavily populated.

Hundreds and perhaps thousands of people have been affected by this event. Secondly, the Himalayas has a relative lack of data and evidence, even compared to other mountain regions around the world. So we really know less about what's going on there than we want to, and we need to to avoid these sorts of situations in the future. The Himalayas are also a complicated area. Eight countries have territory in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya. And when one of these events happens, it ignores borders. As this one has done, this affected China. It also affected Nepal.

And a really important aspect to emphasize here, I think, is cooperation between these countries to try and build an understanding of what's going on in the mountains, which of these glaciers are looking instable. and sharing knowledge and information. And that's the key thing that ISIMOD focuses on. We represent those eight countries and we support them to work together with science. We're a neutral science and knowledge organisation to support their own decision making. Many wonder if there is a way that earlier warning systems could be put in place, given the situation you're describing? Susan, I think the answer to that is yes, definitely.

But what it will take is it will take resources and commitments. And at the minute, what we're seeing across the Himalayas are some amazingly active and impressive actions in this area, both monitoring and early warning systems. But what we need is more, and we need to recognise that by underfunding and under supporting this kind of activity, we might, again, in the future, have another case like this one that we've had this week. All right. Thank you very much, David, for helping us understand how this could happen. appreciate it. Thanks, Susan. David Potter is the head of regional action and global advocacy group at the International

Center for Integrated Mountain Development. He is in Kathmandu. Prime Minister Mark Carney says that Canada is now at war with the U.S. over trade. I'm Jamie Poisson, host of the Daily News Podcast Frontburner, and if you want to better understand how the Canada-U.S. trade deal fell apart and what these latest escalations mean for Canadians, check out our show. We're on top of all the big developments and here to help you make sense of them. Follow Front Burner wherever you get your podcasts. Well, many people from Nepal living in Canada have been trying to reach their loved ones and friends back home. Cahendra Kendall moved here in 2019 after finishing a civil engineering degree in Nepal and he's been trying desperately to

reach his former classmates. A completely heartbroken and it is very incredibly painful moment, we are still waiting for my friends if they are still surviving or we are losing them. Cahendra says they all use Facebook to communicate, but many of them have not responded. 11 of them are still out of contact. Every time whenever my phone rings, I get that hope. Oh, Robbie, this is some good news from my friends living in Kathmandu. They are conveying the update.

Okay, they found our friends. all those text messages, whichever I'm receiving now, they are not positive. Siddarsan Subkoda is the president of the Nepalese Canadian Community Services. He's in Scarborough, Ontario. Good morning. Good morning, Svisham. It must be a very difficult week for you. Like Cahendra, you've been trying to reach friends. Have you made any contact? Yeah, this is very devastating and heartbreaking situation from Nepal.

Like many Japanese Canadians, we woke up extremely faithful to new. and immediately we start to worrying about our parents, families, friends, and companies back home. And one of a few of my friends from university, they're working in the hydropower on the way, the main epicenter of not happening. And right away, we start to communicate through the messenger, try to reach out with them, but unable to get a message. And after a few hours, we are able to get the message from one of my friends. But still there is almost more than 50 or 60 hours.

I haven't heard from one of my friends who was the engineer on the hydropower. We are hoping for his well-being and his alive. Nepalese government, I think, trying to rescue. They are trying. Hopefully, we'll see my friends from university. I'm very hoping for the good news. We understand there are hundreds trapped in a tunnel connected to one of those power plants. But what has it been like for you to watch the images of this.

massive wall of water and the mud. Yeah, this is devastating and heartbreaking. I can't, I can't, from whatever, whatever things happen from that day, now it's heartbreaking to see all those images, the people, the children, the animals, the seniors people, is heartbreaking. It's an unimaginable pain. You must have been fielding so many calls from Nepalese Canadians worried. What can you tell them?

Yeah, we are, NCPS has been receiving now. Since we are one of the oldest organizations in Canada here, we are receiving numerous calls, messages from committee members across Canada who are deeply worried about their families and loved ones in Nepal. For many of these extreme difficult conversations, some families have not been able to contact their relatives, while others still are waiting for, waiting for confirmation of their safety.

It's been like almost 60, 70 hours. They are not able to reach their loved ones. When we receive the calls, our first priority is to listen, provide the reassurance, and share only the verified information. We understand that behind every call's family, waiting for the good news about someone they love. Personally, I have received so many calls from the people who are, their family is missing. It's a very difficult situation when family members say, I have been calling my parents, but I can address them. some of the international Canadians who were they visited the Mansorver from last few, like from last night, I have been receiving call in our social media from Netflix,

Canadian communities, the family who are missing from Canada, and also we are getting messages and pictures. So there on the Mansourer trip, we are there. The last location was there, but after that, we haven't been, get the contact is almost more than 30 hours. Is there any way we can help? So it's a very difficult situation. It's unimaginable. And we are trying our best to reassure them the verified information.

We are trying. So, Darsen, we just have half a minute left. But what do you want the Canadian government to do? What's the most important support for you and your community? The most important thing right now is support to verify the relief before. A really, for a Canadian who wants to help can donate through established transparent organizations our official government release channel. Our prime minister of Nepal has recently launched that one platform

where all the international committees they can donate directly through the Nepalese government that portal. So financial support is particularly important because it allows the relief agency from the most urgent needs. All right. Well, it's going to be a long road ahead. Thank you so much for talking with us. Thank you, Susan, for having me in this hard-working situation for Nepal and giving up a person to share the feelings of our community.

Sadarsin Sapkota is the president of the Nepalese Canadian Community Services. You've been listening to the current podcast. I'm Susan Ormiston. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca.com.