Aerial footage of Nepal’s flood zone shows a second new lake forming after rescue efforts were temporarily suspended due to fears of further deluge from the first known body of water.
Authorities in the Himalayan country are closely monitoring two lakes formed by Wednesday’s catastrophic landslide, Reuters reported on Friday, citing an unnamed employee of the Nepal Disaster Management Authority.
Images recorded by Chinese rescue teams showed brown puddles near a local basin, with water flowing out of the first lake. A second lake was also visible, but new rainfall was expected and its area had overtaken the first.
Both bodies of water are located upstream of the area where hundreds of people were killed in devastating flash floods on the Nepal-China border on Wednesday. These torrents carried silt, sand, gravel, and huge boulders through the rugged mountain valleys along the border.
Nepal’s emergency services have so far relied on satellite imagery to understand the situation, a disaster management official said, adding that authorities plan to install cameras and sensors downstream.
Earlier on Friday, Chinese authorities suspended key response operations, saying rising water levels from a newly formed barrier lake were increasing the risk of new floods and landslides. Nepali authorities had also postponed relief efforts due to growing concerns about the freshwater falls.
