Joe McConnell
A Sherpa village in Nepal’s Everest region has been submerged by icy waters, authorities say.
Experts suspect that Thame, which is at an altitude of about 3,800 m, was flooded after a glacial lake burst its banks. Scientists have warned that climate change is causing many glaciers in the Himalayas to melt at an alarming rate.
No deaths or injuries were reported, but more than a dozen buildings, including homes, a school and a health center, were completely destroyed by Friday’s deluge.
Thame is home to many record-holding Sherpa climbers and is also the birthplace of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first man to climb Mount Everest along with explorer Edmund Hillary.
Videos show milky, foamy water pouring into the village, turning it brown with mud and debris.
A Nepalese army spokesman, Gaurav Kumar KC, told AFP that around 15 houses had been swept away as rescue teams were helping people to safety.
Local authorities say bad weather conditions did not allow the use of helicopters during the investigation, adding that they plan to reach the mountains on Saturday morning.
While the cause of the flood is unknown, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, a climate change specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), said there were “indications” that it was the result of a glacial lake eruption and that they were working to confirm this.
Scientists have warned that Himalayan glaciers are melting due to climate change, creating glacial lakes, often dammed by rocks and debris, making them unstable and prone to overflowing.
Hundreds of glacial lakes formed by melting glaciers have appeared out of nowhere in the Himalayas in recent decades. According to a 2020 report by ICIMOD, 2,070 have been documented in Nepal, of which 21 are classified as “potentially hazardous.”
