Prakriti Shrestha is waiting anxiously for news about her loved ones in Nepal after catastrophic floods swept through the village where she grew up.
"It's really devastating," Ms Shrestha said.
"All my cousins, my people are there ... There are lots of people that are just missing."
At least 160 people have died after flash flooding hit the Trishuli Bazaar and surrounding villages in the Nuwakot district on Wednesday, sweeping away houses and damaging roads and infrastructure.
Hundreds more - including at least 34 Australians - were missing on Thursday, with the death toll expected to rise.
As one of about 5700 Canberrans born in Nepal, Ms Shrestha is worried about what the future holds for her people.
While she had been able to speak with her aunts, who were safe, some relatives were still missing.
"Now I don't even think like we can talk because the electricity, the power is not going to be there now," she said.
"I don't even know what's going to happen. How are they going to travel, communicate, move? It's really bad ... All we can do is pray for each other, for the good, hoping for the best for everyone in this hard time."
She said the news of the disaster had left her speechless.
"Like where we have just grown up, all the streets that we had walked. Now it's all going to be in our memory."
The Australia Nepal Friendship Society Canberra is raising funds to help those affected by the floods and will hold a candlelight vigil on the lawns of Parliament House on Friday evening.
A separate event planned for September 6 in honour of the Hartalika Teej festival was to be cancelled in light of the flooding, with funds raised from tickets already sold to be diverted (if refunds were not sought) to the Nepalese Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund.
On Wednesday, the lower part of a glacier in the Himalayas collapsed and crashed onto the valley floor, possibly triggered by an earthquake.
An avalanche of ice and rock swept down the Lhende Khola river, which runs along the mountainous border of Nepal and Tibet, and into the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers.
The mudslide slammed into Gyirong port in Tibet and into Nepal, creating high-speed flash floods that washed away roads and power projects and inundated villages.
Dozens of missing Australians, including two boys, were part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said at least 34 Australian citizens remained unaccounted for as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade worked to establish their whereabouts.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with those who have lost loved ones and those whose loved ones are missing, and to all affected by this disaster," Senator Wong told reporters on Thursday.
"We are urgently seeking to confirm the welfare and whereabouts of Australians, and we will be in touch with their next of kin, their loved ones, as soon as we have any confirmed information that we can share."
DFAT officials on the ground were coordinating with the Nepalese government, the United Nations, the Red Cross and other organisations on the humanitarian response.
''I would anticipate that support will be needed,'' Senator Wong said.
''If you look at the footage and the destruction, we know this is a country that may not have the resources that will be needed to deal with the recovery by themselves.''
Australians in need of urgent help should contact the department's 24-hour consular emergency centre on 1300 555 135 in Australia or +612 6261 3305 from overseas.
