State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Sunday that approximately 85 Americans remain unaccounted for following flash floods on the border of Nepal and Tibet. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Pigott confirmed that nine Americans have been safely evacuated and stated the department is currently unaware of any U.S. citizen deaths.
The disaster began Wednesday morning when the Bhotekoshi River flooded at approximately 9:00 a.m. local time. Local authorities reported Sunday that the total death toll across Nepal and Tibet has exceeded 800 people, with an additional 3,000 people currently missing. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) attributed the flooding to a glacial collapse near the China-Nepal border that occurred at 8:37 a.m. local time Wednesday, generating seismic energy equivalent to a 5.2-magnitude earthquake.
The State Department announced it has surged assistance to U.S. embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing and is coordinating with the government of Nepal on rescue operations. The U.S. has pledged $3.6 million in emergency humanitarian assistance, which includes providing up to three months of food for 10,000 households. Additionally, $500,000 is being provided through Catholic Relief Services for emergency shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene items.
For Americans currently in the region, the State Department has urged registration with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to facilitate contact and potential evacuation. Travelers and residents in the affected border zones will notice a significant presence of disaster response advisors and embassy staff as the U.S. coordinates rescue efforts with Nepali authorities. The scale of the destruction, with 800 confirmed dead and 3,000 missing, suggests that local infrastructure for housing and clean water has been severely compromised, necessitating the multi-month relief window established by the State Department.
The long-term impact involves the precedent of responding to seismic-level glacial collapses, which the USGS noted was initially misidentified as a standard earthquake. This distinction may influence how future natural disasters in the Himalayan region are monitored and reported. What happens next depends on ongoing search and rescue efforts; the State Department has not provided a deadline for concluding the search for the missing 85 Americans but continues to coordinate with local governments as of Sunday.