Satellite Images Reveal Possible Cause Behind Devastating Nepal Flash Floods

In a preliminary satellite analysis, Planet Labs released images that reveal visual evidence of the destruction caused by floods in Nepal that killed at least 46.

Several others, including 108 Indians, are missing, as the flash flood hit Nepal on Wednesday, washing away villages and many project sites in a region bordering Tibet.

Nepal's disaster authority (NDRRMA) described that a chunk of snow and rock broke off near the glacier zone on the Nepal-China border, about 20km northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border crossing.

That avalanche either fell into a glacial lake or blocked the river channel, and the resulting surge, carrying glacial ice, meltwater and debris -- "glacier-inclusive flood" -- swept down the Lhende Khola into the Bhote Koshi river.

Planet Labs को स्याटेलाइट तस्बिरको विश्लेषणका आधारमा गरिएको प्रारम्भिक अध्ययनबाट नेपाल-चीन रसुवागढी नाकाबाट करिब २० किलोमिटर उत्तरपूर्व नेपाल-चीन सिमानामा गएको हिम-चट्टान पहिरोका कारण ल्हेन्दे खोलामा गेग्य्रानसहितको बाढी आएको देखिएको छ। pic.twitter.com/kCAo9O1Zb0

— NDRRMA (@NDRRMA_Nepal) August 26, 2026