US Families Beg for Help Finding Loved Ones in Nepal Floods
Families of approximately 90 Americans missing after catastrophic flash floods along the Nepal-China border desperately await news as rescue operations continue for over 2,000 people.
According to New York Post, Mukti Patel has been gathered with relatives at her parents’ home in Richmond, Virginia, since her father, sister, and two other family members disappeared in the disaster that struck Wednesday. While she knows the hotel where they were staying was swept away by floodwaters, she remains cautiously hopeful about their fate.
Sanket Pandey, managing director of Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Company, told New York Post that his firm had organized a two-week excursion to the region with 40 guests and seven tour guides. All 47 individuals are now missing. The company, which operates an office in Baltimore, has been fielding desperate inquiries from family members, some asking whether they could reach the disaster site themselves or whether loved ones might be trapped in air pockets.
American and Canadian Citizens Among Missing
Patel’s family members were part of the Himalayan Glacier tour group when the floods struck. Her father, Umesh Kumar, 56, had planned the trip for years, traveling from India to Nepal where he met his daughter Akanksha, 32, along with her husband Ishan, 32, and Ishan’s mother Shilpa, 59. The family holds Canadian and dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, as New York Post reports.
The last contact came on Wednesday when the family called to wish Ishan a happy 32nd birthday. Communication has been silent since.
Mukti Patel, 27, described her sister as a psychiatrist dedicated to breaking mental health stigma, saying there is no ounce of meanness in her. She praised her father as a joyous individual who assisted COVID-19 victims, and called her brother-in-law, an orthopedic surgeon, a source of great happiness for her sister.
Devastation at Disaster Epicenter
Jiwan Jyoti, a 50-year-old U.S. citizen from Lexington, Massachusetts, was also traveling with the Himalayan Glacier group. Her longtime friend Manmeet Singh Meet said Jyoti called her family during breakfast Wednesday morning around 8:40 a.m. local time as she prepared to cross into Tibet. Minutes later, the flash floods struck.
The hotel where Jyoti stayed, and where her iPhone location was last recorded, was completely destroyed. Meet said he is now losing hope that his best friend of 15 years will be found alive, noting she was essentially at the epicenter of the disaster.
The tour group had stopped in Timure, Nepal, before their planned pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site revered by Hindus, Buddhists and other faiths.
Retired Academics on Dream Journey
Vaasavi Unnava, a 31-year-old PhD student, initially believed her parents had already crossed into Tibet when news of the flooding emerged. When her WhatsApp message failed to deliver, her concerns deepened.
Her father, Hanumantha Rao Unnava, and mother, Vasundhara Unnava, both from Woodland, California, had embarked on a retirement trip and planned to spend two months in India with family after visiting Mount Kailash. Hanumantha Rao recently served as dean of the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis, while Vasundhara lectured at the same institution.
Vaasavi Unnava described her father as disciplined and duty-bound yet also a big joker, while characterizing her mother as spontaneous, playful, and the smartest woman she has ever known.
As rescue teams continue pulling survivors from the mud, family members are calling for increased international assistance in search and recovery operations. The U.S. State Department has confirmed that approximately 90 American citizens remain unaccounted for in the disaster that has already claimed hundreds of lives.
With information from New York Post
