Debris Forms Upstream Lake in Nepal, Raising Concerns of Secondary Flood

[Anchor]

As recovery efforts from the massive flood disaster in Nepal remain uncertain, projections are emerging that a secondary flood could strike. Experts warn that, similar to the cause of the initial disaster, the collapse of glaciers in the mountains could trigger another flood even without a single drop of rain.

Reporter Choi Go-un has more.

[Reporter]

A border checkpoint connecting Nepal and China.

A massive pile of mud completely swallows up buildings.

A parking lot building where dozens of buses were gathered is destroyed in an instant, looking like a toy.

Nothing could withstand the muddy tsunami that swept down the canyon at high speed with a loud roar.

[Flood Witness: It felt like the water current was flowing at 20 meters per second. The flood struck in such a short time that the chances of escape were extremely low.]

The collapse of glaciers is being cited as the cause of the massive flood, which occurred despite clear weather with no significant rainfall.

Due to climate change, a large-scale collapse of glaciers and rocks in the high-altitude border area between Nepal and China blocked the river's path. This temporary "glacial dam" could no longer hold and suddenly gave way, sending a tremendous amount of water and sediment pouring downstream all at once.

The tremors initially identified as an earthquake by the U.S. Geological Survey were also found to be earthquake-like phenomena caused by the collapse of glaciers and rock masses.

[Tang Chuan / Chengdu University of Technology Institute of Geohazard Prevention: Water mixed with glaciers and rocks poured down like a waterfall along major valleys, eroding rocks along the path and triggering a massive debris flow, resulting in a large-scale disaster.]

The bigger problem is the risk of a secondary flood.

Aerial footage clearly captures the debris blocking the river in the upper reaches where the flood first began.

With the thickness of the debris flow reaching up to 1.5 meters at the edges, it is of a massive scale that cannot be easily removed.

[Chinese State Media CCTV Reporter: Rain has started to fall, and the aircraft is completely soaked. Despite the difficult conditions, we are maintaining low-altitude flight and heading to the disaster area.]

Concerns are rising that if water continues to accumulate in the affected section, it may fail to withstand the pressure and collapse once again, dealing a severe blow to the already challenging rescue and recovery operations.

(Video editing: Wei Yuanyang, Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.