Bhote Koshi flood reconstruction may cost USD 4–5 billion, death toll rises to 675

Nepal may need USD 4–5 billion to rebuild after the Bhote Koshi flash flood struck on August 26,, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle told Reuters. The death toll in Nepal rose to 675 on August 29, while 2 426 people remained unaccounted for in the country.

Wagle described the USD 4–5 billion figure as an initial estimate and said the assessment of loss and damage was continuing. The potential reconstruction bill is equivalent to nearly one-tenth of Nepal’s economy, while affected power projects account for more than 12% of the country’s generating capacity.

The cause of the August 26 flood had not been fully determined, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on August 29.

However, a glacier collapse along the Nepal-China border and downstream into Nepal is believed to have been the cause.

The Foreign Ministry reported at 14:00 NPT (08:15 UTC) on August 29 that 626 bodies had been recovered and about 2 400 people remained unaccounted for. A Nepal Police update issued two hours later raised the number of recovered bodies to 669.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) subsequently raised Nepal’s death toll to 675, with 2 426 people remaining unaccounted for.

Across Nepal and China’s Tibet, the combined death toll had reached at least 682, comprising 675 deaths in Nepal and seven in Tibet. Nearly 3 000 people were listed as missing, including 2 426 in Nepal and 554 in Tibet’s Gyirong County.

The flood damaged houses, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities and other critical infrastructure, while response operations continued across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Chitwan districts. Towns in the border region were leveled, roads and bridges were swept away, and major hydropower stations sustained damage.

Search, rescue and relief operations continued on August 29 as Nepal requested specialist assistance to open tunnels where people were trapped, locate survivors, conduct forensic and DNA identification, expand mortuary capacity, and restore transport and communications.

An 11-member Indian technical reconnaissance team specializing in tunnel rescue had been mobilized, while a Chinese tunnel-rescue team was expected to arrive.

Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said relief materials had arrived from India, while essential supplies were also being received from China, Japan, Australia and other countries.

Search and rescue operations were temporarily suspended because of rain and fog before resuming as conditions improved. Authorities continued monitoring two upstream lakes; the immediate risk from one had eased as it drained, but a Nepalese disaster official said the flood threat would persist until both lakes had fully drained.

Wagle said the current rebuilding effort would require substantially less funding than reconstruction following the 2015 M7.8 earthquake, for which approximately USD 9 billion was spent.

Bhote Koshi flash flood death toll rises to 489 in Nepal as upstream barrier lake overflows

References:

¹ Press Briefing by Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs on Bhote Koshi Flood — Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Nepal — August 29, 2026

² Nepal’s flood damage may cost up to a tenth of the economy to rebuild — Reuters — August 29, 2026.