A flash flood tore through villages along Nepal’s Budhi Gandaki River on Sunday after a dry landslide in Chumnubri village, in Gorkha district, blocked the river and the trapped water surged downstream, Reuters reported.
Gorkha’s top official, Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, said about a dozen houses and two suspension bridges were washed away. Local media put the number of destroyed homes as high as 35 to 40 and reported four to five people missing. A highway bridge was also destroyed.

Watch: Floodwaters surge through the Budhi Gandaki valley
Towns on alert

Nepal’s disaster management authority evacuated riverside villages and warned that the flood could reach Sirdibas, Jagat, Yari, Tatopani, Machhikhola, Soti, Aarukhet and Arughat, a strategic town on the highway out of Kathmandu. Residents in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan and Nawalparasi were told to stay on high alert.
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said no rain had been recorded in the upper catchment and that the cause was still being investigated. Nepal is still recovering from an August flood on its border with China that killed more than 1,400 people, according to AP.
Video: The bridge near Arughat collapses as the Budhi Gandaki surges
Video: Floodwaters carrying rocks and debris roar through the valley
Video: Residents film the flood from the hillsides above the river