WeatherFanatics: More Than 100 Feared Dead as Rainfall Hampers Search for Nepal Landslide Victims

Sunday, August 3, 2014

More Than 100 Feared Dead as Rainfall Hampers Search for Nepal Landslide Victims

By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

August 3,2014; 9:24PM,EDT

Heavy rainfall hindered recovery efforts in northern Nepal on Sunday, after a deadly landslide claimed the lives of eight on Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported.
According to the AP, more than 100 remain missing and about 40 were injured after the landslide engulfed houses in the Mankha village, which is about 75 miles east of Katmandu.
The fresh rainfall on Sunday was reportedly making it difficult for the rescuers to sift through piles of mud and rocks in search of survivors. However, outlook for recovery is bleak as a government official told The Times of India that there is "no chance" of finding the remaining victims who were trapped under the debris.

Nepalese soldiers search for bodies of victims beneath the debris after a massive landslide in village Mankha, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014. Nepalese officials say there is no chance of finding any of the more than 150 people, who are believed to have been buried by the early Saturday landslide in northern Nepal. (AP Photo/Arpan Shrestha)
The AP reported that the landslide blocked a river, which in turn formed a dam. Army troops used explosives in an attempt to blast through to wall to reduce the dangerous water buildup.
AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Erik Pindrock said Mankha Village spans from about 2,900 feet in the lowest elevation up to around 5,900 feet at its highest elevation.
"With such a steep slope through the village, any kind of heavy rain and flooding would lead to a heightened risk of landslides and mudslides," he said.
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Pindrock said that Nepal is in the middle of its monsoon season and that heavy rains this time of year are not unusual.
In addition to the monsoon, Pindrock said there is a disturbance that was spinning near Bangladesh late last week and into this weekend which is now slowly moving westward through eastern India.
The flow around this disturbance is pulling extra moisture northward from the Bay of Bengal and pushing it against the increasing terrain of Nepal.
"Consequently, scattered showers and thunderstorms with flooding downpours have resulted across portions of the more rugged terrain of Nepal," Pindrock said.
According to India Today News, more than 400,000 in Bihar, a state located along the border of Nepal in northern India, could be affected by flooding in the region as a result of the landslide.
Just last week, a mudslide in India claimed the lives of 68 residents in Malin village, part of the Maharashtra state of India.

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