Nepal's flash flood: How a glacial avalanche unleashed devastation
The terrifying mechanics of the Nepali flash flood
On August 26th, a sudden surge of water swept through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli valleys in Nepal and Tibet, leaving over 1,300 people missing. The Economist explains the terrifying mechanics behind the disaster, tracing it to a glacial avalanche and highlighting the precariousness of life where Earth's surface hovers near the melting point of water.
One of earth's peculiarities as a planet is that its surface temperatures hover near the melting point of water, meaning some parts of it are covered by that substance in its liquid form and some by it in its solid form, ice.
- pm2222
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-nepal-tibet-glacie...
CCTV footage is there. Horrific scene. When you see it coming at you it’s already too late.
- glimshe
I haven't yet been able to properly internalize the horror of this scene. Maybe because we're exposed to so many images from disaster and action movies/videogames, I got somewhat desensitized to the "graphics", so to speak. It's like my brain is denial.
At the same time, I know this is real and a tragedy in an unimaginable scale. Every "little walking figure" is a full human being with dreams, fears and a rich life story.
I'm afraid that at one point it will just hit me super hard.
- decasia
The CCTV footage was one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen on the internet lately.
It makes me think a bit of the Johnstown flood from 1889:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood#/media/File:Th...
- tintor
Is Switzerland exposed to similar risk, given the amount of glaciers?
- blondie9x
Really helpful on navigating what happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZvUQ7aoehw