Heavy monsoon rains since Thursday have unleashed deadly landslides and widespread flooding, killing six people, leaving five missing and disrupting highways, homes and hydropower across multiple districts.

Continuous heavy rainfall battering Nepal since Thursday has triggered floods and landslides that have claimed at least six lives, left five people missing and paralysed road networks in several provinces. Security forces have evacuated hundreds of families from riverside settlements while major rivers such as the Narayani and Tinau surged past danger levels, according to official reports on Sunday.

Landslides Block Key Highways and Isolate Communities

Landslides and mudslides have severely disrupted road connectivity nationwide. Sections of the Prithvi Highway and the Narayangadh-Muglin road, important transport routes in the Himalayan nation, were obstructed at multiple points. Traffic between Narayanghat and Pokhara faced prolonged delays as crews worked to clear debris. In western Nepal, the Karnali Corridor and Karnali Highway were blocked in Humla, Kalikot and Surkhet. The Mid-Hill Highway faced obstructions in Rukum West, while the Rapti Highway and roads linking Surkhet, Salyan, Jajarkot, Jumla and Mugu were also affected.

In Baglung, sections of the Kaligandaki Corridor and Mid-Hill Highway suffered damage. A landslide at Jharikhola in Mugu blocked the Nagna-Gamgadhi road, and a mudslide at Gagne Khola in Kalikot halted traffic on the Karnali Highway. Authorities warned travellers to exercise extreme caution as rain continued.

Rivers Surge Past Danger Marks, Forcing Mass Evacuations

Major rivers have risen sharply. The Narayani River reached between 9.23 metres and over 10 metres early Sunday, well above its 9-metre danger level and 7.3-metre warning mark. The Riu stream, flowing along the boundary of Madi and Chitwan National Park, also crossed its danger level of 3.8 metres. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) issued urgent notices urging residents in riverside areas of Chitwan, Nawalparasi East and Nawalparasi West to move to safer locations, warning that levels could climb further towards 13 metres.

In Rupandehi, floodwaters from the Tinau River swept away six houses – two cemented and four mud-and-stone – along the riverbank in Topmajhuwa of Butwal Metropolitan City-11 on Saturday night. Around 200 houses remained at risk. Security personnel evacuated approximately 1,000 people overnight, initially relocating about 500 residents from the high-risk Majhuwa area to temporary shelters including schools and a temple before shifting them to safer locations. The district administration urged people living near rivers and streams to stay alert.

Hundreds of Homes Inundated in Tarai Districts

Flooding from the Narayani and Saptakoshi rivers has inundated hundreds of houses in the Tarai. In Nawalparasi West’s Susta Rural Municipality, 172 families were relocated after the Narayani entered settlements. Water reached up to three feet inside some homes, and 271 houses and animal sheds were affected in one ward alone. The settlement, bordered by the river and India, left many residents with limited escape routes except by boat. An Armed Police Force border security barracks was also inundated.

In Saptari, floodwaters from the Saptakoshi affected around 500 houses and more than 2,000 people in Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality and Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality. Some 217 homes were inundated, with families moved to the western embankment of the Koshi. Local authorities provided food and temporary shelter under tarpaulins. Similar inundation damaged homes and prompted relocations in Bardiya.

Bridges Washed Away and Hydropower Disrupted

Infrastructure has suffered significant damage. In Myagdi, the swollen Kaligandaki River swept away a motorable bridge connecting Pokharebagar in Annapurna Rural Municipality with Naulibagar, disrupting access towards Mustang. Another bridge linking Mirmi in Syangja with Harmichaur in Gulmi was washed away. Four government offices in Beni, the district headquarters – including the veterinary hospital, Forest Division Office, Beni Municipality office and Soil and Watershed Management Office – were flooded, along with a settlement of landless families. Electricity was disrupted and transport came to a near standstill.

Authorities opened all gates of the Kaligandaki A Hydropower Project due to heavy inflows, temporarily halting electricity generation. In Parbat’s Jaljala Rural Municipality, five houses in Farse and Lasti Bazaar were swept away, and Seti Beni market at the junction of Syangja, Parbat and Gulmi was inundated.

Authorities Issue Nationwide Alerts Amid Continuing Rain

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and security agencies have urged residents living near rivers, streams and landslide-prone slopes to remain vigilant and move to safer ground if conditions worsen. Officials cautioned that continued rainfall could escalate risks of further flooding, erosion and transportation disruptions. River levels in parts of Karnali, including the Thuli Bheri in Dolpa and stretches of the Karnali in Humla and Mugu, were rising.

These latest monsoon disasters come against the backdrop of Nepal’s acute vulnerability to climate-driven extreme weather, a pattern highlighted in recent analyses of the country’s repeated flood crises. Communities recovering from earlier events face renewed hardship as the rains persist.

Rescue and relief operations involving police, Armed Police Force and local administrations continue across affected districts. Authorities are prioritising the clearance of blocked highways and the provision of temporary shelter and food to displaced families while monitoring river levels closely.