An avalanche and flood struck Nepal's Rasuwa district on 26 August, killing thousands and destroying homes, roads and energy infrastructure, while disrupting trade and tourism. Scientists writing in Nature note this follows similar disasters in India's Chamoli district in 2021 and Nepal's Melamchi valley the same year, each triggered by rock, ice or glacial lake collapses that cascaded into destructive floods.
nature.com
· 2026-10-20
Researchers assessed the outburst susceptibility of two existing glacial lakes, Jialongco and Galongco, plus a potential future lake in the transboundary Poiqu basin north of the main Himalayan divide. Using a systematic hazard framework, they compared factors that could trigger or condition a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) and modeled worst-case downstream impacts rather than a full probabilistic risk assessment. Galongco, with a larger watershed prone to heavy monsoon rain and snowmelt, was found more susceptible to high water levels, though its wide, high dam freeboard reduces breach likelihood.
nhess.copernicus.org
· 2026-08-26
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