Skip to content 
ramod Poudel had no idea that an early-morning phone call with his new wife would be their last – but hours later, a wall of water, ice and mud tore through her Nepalese village, leaving her and three members of his family missing.
On Aug. 26, a catastrophic flood tore through communities along the Nepal-Tibet border, sending torrents of water, ice and debris surging through valleys below the Himalayas.
Roads and bridges were ripped apart, homes were swept away and entire communities were left buried beneath thick layers of mud as the flood cut off areas already difficult for rescuers to reach.
The scale of the disaster has continued to grow, with thousands of families waiting for news as search teams struggle to reach communities isolated by the destruction.
Glacial avalanche
The first clue to the enormous force unleashed that morning came from the U.S. Geological Survey, which initially registered the event as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. It later determined that the seismic activity had instead been caused by a glacial collapse and debris flow that triggered catastrophic impacts downstream.
The resulting surge of water, ice and rock travelled nearly 14 miles in less than seven minutes, according to CNN, giving communities in its path little time to escape.
And the danger may not be over. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has warned that debris blocking river systems could lead to further flooding in the coming days.
As of Aug. 31, authorities in Nepal said more than 4,200 people were unaccounted for, while the combined toll from Nepal and Tibet had climbed to 919 dead and 4,793 missing.
Among the thousands of families trapped in that agonizing uncertainty is Pramod “Pedro” Poudel, who traveled thousands of miles in search of the people he loves most.
‘My family needs me’
Poudel, 34, was born and raised in the Nepalese village of Sole before moving to the UK at 18. He now lives in Uckfield, East Sussex, where he runs the MoMo Nepalese Street Food truck.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I share that four members of my family have gone missing following the devastating flash floods in Nepal – including my beloved mother, my wife, my brother, and my uncle,” Poudel wrote on his truck’s Facebook site