More than 2,500 buildings were destroyed in Nepal’s Trishuli valley in tsunami-like glacial floods on August 26, according to an AFP computation of data from Europe’s Copernicus observatory.
That’s about two-thirds of all buildings in the three potentially affected zones studied by Copernicus’ emergency management service.
When partially damaged buildings are included, the proportion of structures affected rises to more than seven out of 10, underscoring the flood’s violence as it tore through the valley.
These areas, which include parts of the towns of Timure, Syabrubesi and Bidur, north of the capital Kathmandu, were home to nearly 6,000 people before the disaster.
Images for the area around Bharatpur, Nepal’s third most populous city, were still being studied on Monday morning.
Scientists attribute the flash flood to the collapse of a huge glacier in the Himalayas.
It swept through the Gyirong border post between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China, after it raced some 20 kilometres (12 miles) down from the glacier.
The small border town of Timure and its surroundings lost more than 80 percent of their buildings.
Ten kilometres further south, the disaster-stricken area of Syabrubesi lost nearly three-quarters of its buildings.
This village is the starting point for the famous Langtang trek and a route frequently used by Hindu pilgrims.
Further downstream, the riverbanks around Bidur –- the administrative centre of the Nuwakot district and the base for the rescue teams -– saw more than 1,800 buildings destroyed, or three out of every five.
As well as homes, the disaster destroyed roads and bridges, making it more difficult to deliver aid and search for the missing.
