A Landslide, Not Rain, Triggered Nepal's Latest Himalayan Flood. Five Still Missing

TOPSHOT - This video grab made from an AFPTV video taken on October 11, 2026 shows flood water destroying buildings along the Budhi Gandaki river, following a flash flood caused by a dry landslide, at Sallari Chumnubri in Nepal's Gorkha district on October 11, 2026. Flash floods surge along Nepal's Budhi Gandaki river, destroying buildings and sending muddy waters through the surrounding area.More than 1,400 people died and over 5,000 remain missing after the catastrophic flood hit Nepal on August 26, which was triggered by a mountain and glacier collapse on the China-Nepal border. (Credit: Photo by Sovit Shrestha / AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images)

The Briefing

• A pre-dawn landslide near Chumchet in Nepal's Gorkha district blocked a tributary of the Budhi Gandaki River on October 11; when the barrier failed, it sent a sediment-heavy surge downstream that left five people missing and dozens homeless.
• The same corridor is still absorbing the blow from August 26, when an ice-rock avalanche off Mt. Langtang Lirung — not a glacial lake outburst, as early reports claimed — generated a catastrophic flood along the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli system that killed more than 1,300 people.
• Research published in Scientific Reports documents a 45 percent expansion in buildings within potential Himalayan flood zones between 2016 and 2023, placing nearly 300,000 people across Nepal, India, and China at heightened risk.