How a Nepali teacher's quick thinking saved 1,643 children from monster floods
A school principal in Nepal, Rajendra Dawadi, successfully evacuated 1,643 students before a devastating flash flood destroyed their school. The flood, caused by a glacier collapse, has resulted in hundreds of deaths and missing persons across the region.
Why it matters
This event highlights the increasing vulnerability of mountain communities to climate-induced natural disasters and the importance of emergency preparedness.
"He said the village was gone: taken by the river. He told me to run."The warning came at 9:20 am on Wednesday from a friend to Rajendra Dawadi, principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nepal's Trishuli Valley. He had 1,643 children in and around the three-storey school as a devastating flash flood, triggered by a glacier collapse, tore through mountain river systems, killing over 750 people in Nepal and 16 in Tibet.Buildings, bridges and power stations were swept away as torrents of rock, ice, mud and debris surged through the region. About 2,498 people remain missing in Nepal, while another 546 are missing in Tibet's Gyirong County, according to the latest figures.With the floodwaters rising rapidly, Dawadi, a 47-year-old English teacher, had just minutes to act.
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