At least two people died and 18 others went missing as floods ravaged through Barahbise Municipality in Sindhupalchok district on Wednesday night. As many as 15 houses have been swept away.

Fourteen houses were swept away alone in Barahbise Municipality-5 after floodwaters from Almo Thado Khola and Kabre Khola entered the settlements at around 12:30am.

Eleven people were swept away from the area. Two bodies have been recovered.

According to a local, Yudhir Poudel, bodies of Nikesh Basnet, 20 and his three-year-old daughter were recovered.

“Nine people are still missing and a rescue team of the Nepal Army and locals are searching for them,” said Poudel. “Preparations are underway to bring in choppers to airlift three individuals who were injured in the disaster.”

The floods have also caused damage to various road sections and bridges along the Araniko Highway.

Police Inspector Nawaraj Neupane said that police teams are using alternative routes to reach the incident site after the floods damaged the road connecting Jumbo to the highway.

“We will have the details regarding the incident when we reach the incident site,” he said, adding that rescue teams from the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force have already reached the affected area.

Likewise, another house was swept away in Marming village of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality by the flooded Balkute Khola.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, through a notice, on Wednesday, had alerted that the various parts of the country would see heavy rainfall.

Beginning from Thursday until Sunday, Province 1, Province 2, Bagmati Province and Gandki Province will receive the record rainfall for this year, indicating a possible surge in water-induced disaster in those areas, according to the authority.

As per the latest prediction from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the water level is likely to go up and hit the warning level in various rivers—Koshi, Kamala, Kankai, Bagmati, Narayani and their rivulets— for the next three days.

Water flow will reach the danger level in some of these rivers. Locals from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Udaypur, Sapatari, Sirha, Dhanusa, Mahottari and surrounding districts have been advised to stay safe.

Regular and heavy rainfall have already been nasty this year for the country, which is reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the arrival of monsoon, which entered two days late this year, the country has seen frequent incidents of extreme weather events. More than five dozen people have already lost their lives due to landslides, floods and other water-induced disasters since the monsoon arrived, making this season the deadliest monsoon in the last 11 years, in terms of the devastation in the monsoon arrival period.