Satellite Images Show How Trishuli River In Nepal Swelled Up To 6 Times, Swallowed Houses

When a rock and ice avalanche roared down the Tibet-Nepal border on the morning of August 26, it engulfed homes, roads, villages, and markets in Rasuwa district. The floodwaters spread to the Nuwakot, and Lalitpur districts in Nepal. Green hillsides transformed into vast stretches of mud, rock, and debris. In a span of a few hours, the floods transformed river valleys; shifting and expanding them up to six times.

The NDTV team analysed satellite images by Vantor, Planet Labs PBC, Google Earth, and Google Open Buildings to understand the changing course of the Trishuli river, which carried the bulk of the devastating slurry.

From 65 metres to 443 metres.

In just hours, Nepal's floods transformed entire river valleys.

Using before-and-after satellite imagery, @NDTV Datafy tracked how the Trishuli River and its tributaries widened, shifted course and consumed large stretches of land across Nuwakot,… pic.twitter.com/OmiiAnKFBS

— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) September 3, 2026

The Nepal Army, in a statement, said that the sudden rise in water levels caused heavy damage in the Timure and Syabrubesi areas of Rasuwa district, about 125 kilometres from the Tibetan border, and the satellite images are a testimony of that.

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In Timure, a border town in Rasuwa District of northern Nepal, the Trishuli River swelled over four times in its original width. Before the deadly floods, the river was 78 metres wide. After the August 26 floods, the river expanded to 350 metres.

In Syabrubesi, the river flowed with a width of 65 metres. The devastating floods stretched the river to 300 metres wide. Here, the ravaging waters are believed said to have swallowed nearly 300 homes.

Similar scenes have been witnessed in Nuwakot, one of the three worst affected districts in Nepal. In Nuwakot's Chaupthoke locality, the river bulged up to six times -- from flowing 65 metres wide before the floods to 443 metres after.

In Battar area of Nuwakot district, the river widened from 91 meters before the floods to 309 metres after.

The rescue operations in Nepal have entered their tenth day. Two workers trapped inside the Trishuli-3 'A' Hydropower Project tunnel were rescued alive today with experts calling it nothing short of a miracle.

Also Read | Video: Inside Miracle Rescue Of Workers From Nepal Tunnel After 9 Days

Over 1,200 people have been reported dead, while 5,083 people are still missing in Nepal. In China, state media say 21 people have been killed, and 541 people are missing.

That takes the overall toll to 1,280 deaths, with 5,624 people missing.