The scale of destruction in flood-hit Nuwakot has left residents struggling to comprehend what happened, with homes swept away, families separated, and many people still missing.

For Yugnath Adhikari of Dandathok, the disaster brought an unimaginable personal loss. He watched helplessly as floodwaters swept away his two sisters, nephew and nephew’s wife.

He said he had never witnessed anything like it and that fear had gripped the entire village. “People are not even in a state to speak,” he said.

In Bidur Municipality-7, scores of houses were washed away between Sole Bazar and Akkare Bazar, according to ward chairman Rabindra Nepal. Some residents escaped to safety, but the whereabouts of several elderly people and children remain unknown.

Nepal himself has been unable to return home after being stranded at the municipal building since early Wednesday.

“There is no road or bridge left for me to get home,” he said.

Gokarna Adhikari, a resident of Dandathok in Tupche, said the flood had left his village almost unrecognisable. Many people he knew were still out of contact, while only a handful of houses remained standing in Karmetar, between Sole and Akkare.

“Even the houses that look intact from a distance are completely covered in mud and debris,” he said.

With communications disrupted and access cut off, residents have been unable to establish how many people may have died. Gokarna said the destruction was severe enough to suggest a significant loss of life and urged people who were outside the area not to attempt to return yet.

The disaster has also affected children in the area. Students from Chandeshwori, Pioneer and Uttargaya schools in Tupche were caught up in the flooding, but there was no immediate breakdown of how many were affected or remained missing.

Gokarna said he had heard that some students were swept away while travelling to school. He said those who had already reached their schools were safe.