Top 2017 stories: Photo essay of flooded Nepali village

Large swathes of southern Nepal were hit by floods in the weekend of August 12th and 13th, following a cloudburst. Fifteen districts in the lowlands have been affected, while landslides have been reported higher in the Himalayas. At least 90 people have been killed, 38 are still missing, and more than 2,000 buildings have collapsed.

The government claims to be rushing rescue and relief operations to the flooded areas, but local media reports indicate that victims have been left to deal with the disaster on their own. Munna Saraff, a photographer based in Birgunj in Parsa district, went to nearby Ramgaduwa to document a village hit by the flooded Sirsiya river, one of the many rivers in the transboundary Ganga basin.

A woman walks in front of her flooded home [image by: Munna Saraff]

A man carries his goat to higher ground [image by: Munna Saraff]

A woman contemplates her flooded home [image by: Munna Saraff]

A shopkeeper bales out water from his home in an effort to save his stock [image by: Munna Saraff]

Using his stick as a depth gauge, a man moves towards higher ground [image by: Munna Saraff]

Much of Ramgaduwa is flooded [image by: Munna Saraff]

Even brick and mortar houses stand isolated [image by: Munna Saraff]

This house has become uninhabitable [image by: Munna Saraff]

Homeless residents move into a neighbour’s home with whatever they can carry [image by: Munna Saraff]

People flooded out of the Jyoti Nagar area eat at a relief camp in Birgunj [image by: Munna Saraff]

Inside the relief camp, opened at a dharamshala (pilgrims’ inn) in Birgunj [image by: Munna Saraff]

This story was first published on August 16, 2017.