Editor’s note: Updated 27 August 2026, 22:00 HKT with the latest death toll and missing figures from Nepal Police.
(Re)in Summary
- A flash flood in Rasuwa, northern Nepal, killed at least 177 on Wednesday, with 826 people unaccounted for, including 579 tourists.
- Non-life insurers expect claims in the hundreds of millions of rupees (US$1.3m+), mostly from hydropower and construction.
- Travel insurance may also come into focus: basic policies often exclude non-medical evacuation after a natural disaster.
A flash flood tore through the Bhote Koshi valley in northern Nepal on Wednesday, killing at least 177 people and damaging hydropower plants, roads and bridges across Rasuwa district.
Nepal Police put the toll at 177 on Thursday afternoon, with 826 people unaccounted for, and officials expect it to rise further as rescue teams reach the worst-hit areas.
The Nepal Tourism Board listed hundreds of travellers as missing on preliminary records from ten tour operators. Of those, 291 are foreign nationals: 105 Indians, 37 non-resident Indians, 17 Malaysians, 12 Britons, eight South Koreans, four South Africans, three Americans, one Australian and one Dutch national. The Tourism Board said it had yet to confirm the nationalities of the rest. Personnel from Nepal Police and the armed forces are also among the missing.
Early estimates from non-life insurers said claims worth hundreds of millions of rupees, or upwards of US$1.3m, could be filed for major infrastructure projects, including hydropower and construction projects, Kathmandu-based outlet Beema Post reported.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said the flood damaged about 430MW of generating capacity, including hydropower and solar, as well as transmission and distribution assets. Authorities named the Rasuwagadhi, Chilime, Trishuli 3A, Trishuli, and Devighat plants, as well as the 220 kV substation at the Trishuli 3B hub, among the sites hit.
Travellers missing
The missing travellers also put the focus on adventure travel cover. Nepal’s larger trekking operators require proof of insurance at booking, but policies differ on non-medical evacuation after a natural disaster, which basic products often exclude.
Branches of one non-life and two life insurers had been out of contact, Beema Post reported. Deep Prakash Pandey, chief executive of Shikhar Insurance, said staff at the company’s Ghumti branch remained in touch but that nobody had reached the office itself. Nepal Bankers’ Association president Santosh Koirala said the flood swept away or wrecked the buildings of nine bank branches in the affected area.
Across the border, a mudslide struck near Gyirong Port in China’s Xizang region, cutting roads, power, and communications, Xinhua reported, citing the Gyirong County emergency management bureau. People were feared missing, and President Xi Jinping ordered all-out search-and-rescue efforts.
Flooding is the largest modelled catastrophe threat to Nepal’s energy sector, with average annual losses of US$32.4m and a baseline 10-year maximum loss of US$69.5m. Ramesh Subramaniam, global director for programmes and strategy at the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, cited the figures last week from a fiscal risk assessment. The country’s national disaster fund held about US$35m in reserves as of 2024.
Nepali insurers received at least 734 claims totalling NPR3.78bn (US$25m) after the October 2025 monsoon floods, with property accounting for NPR3.19bn (US$21m) of the total. That came weeks after AM Best warned that losses from the “Gen Z” riots would test the capital buffers of Nepal’s non-life carriers.
