“The water appeared around the corner like smoke.”
That’s how Gita Devi Kalwar describes the moment she saw the catastrophic floods rushing towards her home in Bidur last Wednesday morning.
“Everyone started shouting ‘run away, run away’. I held onto my husband (and ran),” she said.
“Those that could run lived – those that could not were swept away,” she added.
When they returned several days later, it was to an unrecognisable scene.
Everything had been washed away – their home, their motorbikes, their important documents, the money they had saved from their small business.
Kate Varley reports from inside the devastated town of Bidur
They left with just the clothes on their backs, and returned to nothing but mud, sediment and debris.
Gita’s 17-year-old daughter, Rishika, had been away in Kathmandu when the disaster struck, and immediately returned to Bidur when she heard the news.
“The tsunami came and took everything,” she said. “Everything is lost.”
But it did not take her parents, and for that, she is deeply grateful.
“The biggest thing for me is that my family is safe,” she says, clasping her mother’s hand tightly.
Gita (R) and her daughter Rishika returned home to ruin
Buildings were completely destroyed in the aftermath of the floods
“The most important things in my life are my father and mother.”
Relief and rescue operations
In the devasted Trishuli River Valley, Gita’s story is not unique.
Along the riverbed, the damaged structures of homes and businesses rise from the mud – stark reminders of the brutal and unforgiving force of the floodwaters.
Residents dig in the debris for belongings, while an operation is under way at the remains of a nearby bank to remove a safe containing money which was buried in the mud.
It took just minutes for the tides to completely transform the valley, and now it could take decades to rebuild.
But despite the scale of the destruction, Bidur has fared better than many other settlements further upstream.
It is one of the few flood-hit areas still reachable by road, making it a vital gateway for getting relief to those cut off by the disaster.
Much of the humanitarian and rescue effort is being coordinated from the local army barracks, where helicopters are taking off almost constantly.
Suresh Shah has been searching among thousands of names for his missing uncle
They head into the mountains carrying rescue teams and relief, then return with survivors airlifted from communities cut off by the floods.
‘We don’t know whether he is dead or alive’
As word spreads that survivors are being taken to Bidur, the town has also become a gathering point for families searching for their loved ones.
They scan the lists of those rescued, which has been posted outside the barracks.
“I am looking for my uncle,” says Suresh Shah.
“He was working as an engineer on the customs building being constructed on the Chinese border. We have no idea as to his whereabouts.
“We don’t know whether he is dead or alive. His name is not on the rescued people list.”
The operation has also drawn several charities, volunteers and local residents eager to help.
Bishal has been helping to feed hundreds of people
Among them is Bishal, who normally works for a driving union, but wanted to play his role in assisting those impacted.
“People were having trouble finding food after the tragedy. Food for these people is expensive in hotels so we started to provide free food.
“We started yesterday by feeding around 600 people. Today we have fed about 1,500 people so far.”
Volunteers say they fear the number will continue to rise significantly, as the full scale of the disaster starts to emerge.