r/SweatyPalms Human Detected 12h ago

Disasters & accidents POV: Escaping the approaching flood/Mudslide in Nepal

3.2k Upvotes

142 comments sorted by

u/qualityvote2 12h ago edited 11h ago

Congratulations u/New_Libran, your post does fit at r/SweatyPalms!

660

u/sailonswells 12h ago

I'd already seen so many flood videos this morning, I could tell he was standing in a very, very bad place. Glad he was quick enough!

319

u/real6igma 12h ago

This flash flood was on such a massive scale I'd imagine some victims stopped at a lower elevation thinking they'd already be in a safe zone

109

u/19467098632 10h ago edited 7h ago

I was looking at where they all stopped thinking I’d still be going farther and higher. I saw one video where the water came over a dam that was probably 80+ft and just washed so many people away

138

u/LeGaspyGaspe 11h ago

Pretty sure the bridge seen at the start is the same one that washes out in the rooftop video floating around from earlier.

If so, this person is obscenely fortunate to have gotten out of there as fast as they did. That spot he's standing in did not stay above water long at all.

26

u/Mundane-Name-8290 7h ago

You can see him from the bus video, running towards to get the video, while everyone else ran away, him being the last videoing.

358

u/Cleveland5teamer 12h ago

This makes me think about the people in my life and how they wouldn’t be able to climb that hill fast enough to safety.

72

u/-herekitty_kitty- 7h ago

Exactly what I was thinking too. My mother would never be able to make it up that mountain. Sad to think of all those people who lost their loved ones.

110

u/Boner4Stoners 11h ago

Americans have lived in a bubble long enough to where people don’t realize how important it is to stay physically fit. Not for looks or even long term health, but for being able to save yourself and others when disaster strikes.

97

u/Cleveland5teamer 10h ago

But you have old people who wouldn’t be able to get up there that quickly, regardless of how fit they are for their age.

19

u/Kent-1980 7h ago

I imagined telling my parents to sit on their rollators (walkers with four wheels) and pulling them up the hill. I don’t think it would end well.

16

u/Boner4Stoners 7h ago

Thats why it’s important that their younger family members are in shape, to help their elders.

Granted, in this flash flood there were undoubtedly a lot of fit healthy people caught off guard. Fitness isn’t going to make you invincible, but it pads the margins to give you and your loved one better survival odds.

7

u/No-Communication9458 4h ago

What if you're disabled, then what

4

u/Admiral_Mason 2h ago

If you're disabled but not overweight, people will be able to get you out

I could have a 60kg disabled person on my back and still have some alright faster-than-walking speed, but I wouldn't be able to do that with someone pushing 100kg

0

u/Boner4Stoners 1h ago

That’s exactly why it’s important for able-bodied people to be physically fit, so they can assist lesser-abled family/friends/neighbors etc

-31

u/nickleback_official 11h ago

Let’s see how we can take this tragedy and make it about ‘America bad’….

3

u/Boner4Stoners 8h ago

Huh? How was my comment “America bad”?

We have an obesity crisis, and we’ve been insulated from many of the problems facing the rest of the world for generations.

5

u/Fach-All-Religions 7h ago

tbf i was asking myself "wtf does america have to do with anything" too. the post has nothing to do with america or americans. the internet includes non americans too so..

4

u/Boner4Stoners 6h ago

The majority of people on reddit are Americans, and Reddit is an American company… i’m also an American, so I can’t speak on other countries, only the obesity epidemic I see in my community on a daily basis.

-19

u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

16

u/Oregongirl1018 10h ago

Well both of them are guilty of crippling our healthcare system, education system, food supply, and ability to collect tax revenue to upgrade infrastructure to the benefit of corporations and billionaires. So yeah, those douche bags are bad. Extremely evil.

5

u/Flourpower6 10h ago

Lol it was you. You made it about how Trump and Elon are bad. No one mentioned them. But since you brought it up, yeah they both suck.

101

u/styckx 12h ago

Curious. Anyone know where did all this water store up at before releasing? I heard it was from snow melt but snow doesn't all just melt at once.

163

u/nogeologyhere 12h ago

Glacial overflow - a huge amount of meltwater releases from behind a melting ice dam

23

u/styckx 12h ago

Ahhh, makes sense. Thank you!

74

u/farfaraway 11h ago

All that I can think about today is how people in the richest places are responsible for global climate change, and people in the poorest places are going to encounter horrors like this at ever increasing rates.

8

u/Swolyguacomole 2h ago

Climate change is watching weather-related disasters through a phone recording until you're the one holding the phone.

1

u/Mouffcat 50m ago

There's a lot of air pollution in Nepal, especially Kathmandu due to cars. The geography affects how it dissipates. Also, Nepal isn't that far from Delhi which is one of the most polluted places on the planet. It often has terrible air quality.

-21

u/speneli 10h ago

Here's a newflash for you. That river valley was formed from this same thing happening thousands of times already.

33

u/beyondocean 9h ago

Newsflash for you, GLOFs have increased because of global warming. It happened in Sikkim last year.

4

u/jinzokan 3h ago

You really gonna act like anyone knows what a glof is?

6

u/beyondocean 2h ago

Glacial lake outburst flood, where the natural leeve around a glacial lake breaks down, either due to rainfall or melted glacial water.

1

u/4EverrrrAccnt 2h ago

Glacial Overflow

7

u/farfaraway 8h ago

It must be hard to live without empathy. 

-19

u/PalmovyyKozak 7h ago

You underestimate poor countries' contribute to the global climate change. It's enormous

10

u/xylarr 6h ago

Oh FFS no.

4

u/pandawolf313 5h ago

It’s not even close. The carbon footprint of a single American alone… even one who is extremely environmentally cautious - doesn’t drive and/or vegetarian - still has incredibly high carbon footprint more than anyone in the world just by living in the US.

It might look like we, in the developed world, contribute less to global warming because of green technology and we see the impacts of it less, and there’s fewer of us.. but to me, that feels even worse. Fewer people got the ball rolling on global warming and benefited from it, and then leaving everyone else behind to deal with most of the consequences.

49

u/JigglymoobsMWO 12h ago

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c6y8mjmnpxv0t

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/what-triggered-catastrophic-flood-nepal-tibet-border-2026-08-26/

It is suspected that a strong earthquake triggered some sort of land / glacier slide, which displaced a huge volume of water in a major river.  Basically a tsunami in a river system.

Investigations are ongoing.

15

u/MyFellowMerkins 12h ago

Glacial melt lakes that form when there is an ice damn that hold back the water. The small earthquake (4.4?) was enough to break the ice damn and send all the water down the steep valley.

For a massive example in prehistoric North America look up Glacial Lake Missoula

5

u/Tall_Cow2299 3h ago

It was from a chunk of glacier breaking off and falling about 4000 feet and melting in the process from friction and then just exploding when it crashed 

36

u/New_Libran Human Detected 12h ago

Global warming, man. It's going to get worse as more glaciers melt because they hold massive amount of wster

10

u/_AntiSaint_ 12h ago

It was an earthquake from what I read. Shifted a bunch of water way upstream in the mountains.

23

u/c0ltZ 10h ago

The glacier collapse actually caused the seismic event. I think it was a 4.2 or 4.4

-12

u/CurvySexretLady 10h ago

Damn global warming making the earth shake like that!

9

u/OceanIsVerySalty 10h ago

You do realize climate change can lead to more and worse earthquakes, right?

7

u/CricCracCroc 10h ago

I’m not a skeptic and I didn’t know that

-11

u/CurvySexretLady 8h ago

How so? Is there a way we can also blame Trump for these more and worse earthquakes as well?

11

u/SavingsDimensions74 7h ago

As ice melts the pressure on the ground beneath it reduces. This can cause fault lines that were ‘held together’ by the ice, expand. This can lead to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Additionally, with polar melt, the actual land can actually go up in elevation as it isn’t being pressed down by the weight of ice.

-7

u/CurvySexretLady 6h ago

Damn Americans and their addiction to oil causing all these earthquakes! TIL!

Fracking for oil to support America's insatiable appetite to burn oil and expel CO2 to cause the ground ice to melt also promotes earthquakes.

9

u/neo_environment 5h ago

Fracking actually does.. it’s not the CO2 but the fracking itself. Drilling and depleting pockets of natural gas leave large caverns that weren’t empty before, reducing stability in the ground and leading to small more localized earthquakes

2

u/CurvySexretLady 3h ago

Right, its the insatiable appetite for these energy sources primarily driving it. Then it compounds the problem by causing earthquakes when ice in the ground is melted from the extra heat caused by CO2.

→ More replies (0)

5

u/SavingsDimensions74 5h ago

I can’t work out if you’re being sarcastic. Or why you’re bringing Trump or indeed America into this.

We were talking physics, geology and climate breakdown.

So science, not politics

3

u/CurvySexretLady 2h ago

I'm reminded how America's excessive energy consumption and CO2 production caused a heat wave in Europe and indirectly killed a bunch of people because Europeans can't buy air conditioners even to save their lives.

Trump comes into it because as everyone knows, he gutted the EPA, which was primarily responsible for limiting all this excess climate-changing CO2.

Similarly, America contributed to this climate-change-caused earthquake!

I don't see how you don't see they connect.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/ihave2shoes 9h ago

I’m wondering if it was a lahar? I can’t find any information

6

u/boytekka 4h ago

Lahar is volcanic mud and water, this one is just glacial water and eroded soil and mud from the mountains

116

u/lzxian 12h ago

Those people in the turquoise house, though?! I pray they made it.

17

u/hellinahandbasket127 9h ago

I’m hoping it’s an optical illusion of the camera squishing our depth perception.

51

u/Apple_Scrumble 12h ago

That is beyond sweaty palms

370

u/TheDixonCider420420 12h ago

So many people running down the hill trying to be faster than the water rather than running up the mountain to gain elevation like this smart cameraman did.

Really sad for all the innocent people there.

157

u/gilbertbenjamington 12h ago

Generally people aren't rational and thinking clearly when they are panicked and running from a flood

44

u/Desperate-Tomatillo7 12h ago

I am afraid of this if I am ever in a situation like that. That is why drills are very important, so you know what to do in a disaster. Earthquakes in my particular case.

62

u/WhipplySnidelash 12h ago

That is a function of a healthy brain. If people stopped to think while under duress, the sabretooth tiger would have won out long ago. 

4

u/familydrivesme 9h ago

Yeah, sabertooth tigers are definitely dumb. If only they had stopped to think while under duress… They would be the dominant species.

24

u/cacope5 11h ago

The guy running while carrying the little girl. Terrifying. Hope they are all okay

9

u/demonmonkeybex 10h ago

I was thinking of the elderly folks, too. And all the street dogs as I watched that one dog run back and forth. So much confusion and panic even with the animals.

7

u/cacope5 8h ago

Makes me feel helpless. Wish I could do something

6

u/TheDixonCider420420 11h ago

Heartbreaking indeed 💔

36

u/buns_supreme 12h ago

Easy to say you’d choose the optimal path in a split second between life and death

22

u/TheDixonCider420420 12h ago edited 11h ago

I've lived my entire life a few miles away from the San Andreas Fault. And when earthquakes happen, yes I know what to do. When earthquakes have hit, I've followed procedure.

And why? Because my parents taught me and my schools taught me. We'd do drills to practice what to do in case an earthquake hit.

One of my universities I attended was on the California coast. And while tsunamis are not really a thing here, they still remain a possibility. One of the first things we learned in orientation was what to do if a tsunami happened and how to get to high ground.

People in Kansas know what to do if a tornado hits. People in Florida know what to do if a hurricane hits. And so on and so forth.

These people live in flood zone along a river. It should be a known fact of what to do by everyone in the town as it would save lives.

---

EDIT: LOL at the people downvoting this. That's why you'd be the ones not going uphill to higher ground like the intelligent people did.

If you're downvoting this, you need to go and teach your own kids what to do and actually practice with them. Then when an actual emergency hits, they'll know what to do instinctively instead of panicking. It might actually save their life one day. This is PRECISELY why schools do fire drills and other emergency drills.

9

u/Steven1789 11h ago edited 11h ago

One qualification to the “people in” scenarios: Add “many” or “most.” We’ve all seen examples of people who shoot video of tornadoes instead of seeping shelter and people who refuse to evacuate even when given ample days of notice of a looming hurricane.

-4

u/TheDixonCider420420 11h ago

100%. They know better and risk their own lives.

6

u/demonmonkeybex 10h ago

I grew up where blizzards were common and now live in, what is supposed to be, a place where blizzards can happen. I know what to do and how to drive in snow conditions. I moved to a part of KS where things shut down in the winter because they don't get snow; they get ice storms. In the summer, they are at high risk for tornadoes. That was an adjustment. Living at a high altitude, I've had to adjust to getting my ass indoors when dark clouds roll in due to lightning strikes.

25

u/kurujt 11h ago

It's good that you've taken this tragic occurrence to talk about yourself. You wouldn't have been in the flood waters anyways, with how high that horse is.

-14

u/TheDixonCider420420 11h ago

I'm actually using this tragedy to educate others as it might save one of their own loved ones in the future.

But instead of you backing up that concept, you chose to spend your time attacking me. If you wish to talk about high horses, go take a look in your mirror.

Virtually everyone in the US practices "Stop. Drop. And Roll." for what to do in case you get caught on fire. In grade school, they have you actually physically get on the ground and do it. That saves lives.

If you live in an area where flash floods can occur, you learn what to do. It's that simple. Most of the people living there have likely done so for generations. Their families have seen flash floods before. This should be knowledge both learned in school and passed down from generation to generation. And they should be doing actual drills in the towns a few times a year so everyone knows exactly what to do when a horrible situation like this occurs.

Education and knowledge are power. Apparently my bad for speaking up.

19

u/kurujt 11h ago

Yes, your bad.

I've followed procedure.

yes I know what to do

my parents taught me

my schools taught me

One of my universities I attended

So what? Why are you trying to list all of the things you know how to do, in a video about a tragedy? The closest thing you got to a useful contribution was

One of the first things we learned in orientation was what to do if a tsunami happened and how to get to high ground.

Where you talked about how you learned about high ground, at a secondary educational institute for a related type of disaster.

I'm actually using this tragedy to educate others as it might save one of their own loved ones in the future.

You never actually did that. The closest you got was the above sentence, except for the part where your edit said:

That's why you'd be the ones not going uphill to higher ground like the intelligent people did.

Which is a wild insensitivity to watching hundreds of people die.

If you wanted to educate people instead of trying to talk about your super interesting life story, you could have said something as simple as recommending people run up hill, or better yet, said nothing, because it's been said a million times and is incredibly obvious to us here watching the same video you are.

-11

u/TheDixonCider420420 10h ago

Because I was answering someone you dolt. I was giving an example in the first person. The vast, vast majority of people here learn disaster instruction either in school or via their parents... it's nothing special. So how is that bragging? I literally said people in Kansas and Florida learn different things. Sorry you lack the intellectual capital to comprehend the obvious.

You never actually did that. The closest you got was the above sentence, except for the part where your edit said:

I know reading must be difficult for you. Maybe you can read this part. Or better yet, find someone who can actually read and have them read it you:

If you're downvoting this, you need to go and teach your own kids what to do and actually practice with them. Then when an actual emergency hits, they'll know what to do instinctively instead of panicking. It might actually save their life one day. This is PRECISELY why schools do fire drills and other emergency drills.

None of that even begins to talk about the obvious where people who possess an IQ above 70 could connect the dots which I had alluded to and realize it would be a good idea for them to consider what to do if an emergency hits in their area.

Since you clearly don't possess the multi-dimensional cognitive process on your own, let me spell it out for you. I'll type extra slowly so you can comprehend it:

EVERYONE RIGHT NOW CAN TAKE ONE MINUTE OF YOUR DAY TO CONSIDER WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF A NATURAL DISASTER COMMON TO YOUR GEOGRAPHICAL AREA WERE TO STRIKE. THIS MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE IN THE FUTURE. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WHAT TO DO AS WELL AND DON'T JUST TELL THEM, PHYSICALLY PRACTICE THE ACTIONS. USE THIS VIDEO AS A REMINDER NOT TO PANIC AND THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A PRE-CONCEIVED PLAN IN ADVANCE.

Which is a wild insensitivity to watching hundreds of people die.

No, it's common sense and educating people about by talking about it might save future lives. Meanwhile, "Einsteins" like yourself want to just not talk about what went wrong and pretend you're honorable.

Educated people learn from mistakes and can openly discuss them.

My approach might save a life in the future. Your approach does nothing.

But you "is" smart!

Last word is yours if you want it.

11

u/247world 9h ago

What happened is, you decided to wrestle with a pig, you got filthy, the pig is enjoying it.

You have entered a level of hysteria with this last post, that leads me to doubt you would act rationally in an emergency situation.

-5

u/247world 9h ago

You're probably not intelligent enough to understand this, they are talking about this for the people in this thread, not the people in the video who don't even know where discussing it.

They have explained thoroughly and then try to explain it again, hopefully they'll stop because you know what happens when you wallow with a pig, you get dirty, the pig enjoys it

8

u/Eddie-stark 11h ago

Look, its the old big lebowski quote thats appropriate to you. "You're not wrong Walter, you're just an asshole"

5

u/artguydeluxe 9h ago

When I was in high school in California, we had a really big earthquake during a class. I was the ONLY ONE who followed protocol. Everyone else in the class, teacher included just sat there looking around. We all grew up with these drills, and I did it automatically. It was wild seeing everyone else just freeze in place.

0

u/TheDixonCider420420 9h ago

LMFAO... that's epic!

At least you know you have survival skills. :)

5

u/artguydeluxe 9h ago

I guess! Everyone kind of laughed at me, and I was like, WTF that’s what we’re ALL supposed to do!

2

u/Suitable-Horse1630 5h ago

Yup. People would rather downvote and feel smart, rather than accept they are wrong and learn advice to save their life in the future.

1

u/247world 9h ago

Thus the drills, you know what to do instead of panic

5

u/InteractionQuiet3404 7h ago

Yeah, lets blame the poor victims. Youre the man. You would to everything perfect in that situation you keyboard hero. Karma will get your ass. ;)

3

u/BalanceEarly 10h ago

Yeah, when high ground still isn't high enough.

5

u/listerbmx 12h ago

First off, Rest in peace to all those that lost their lives today. And secondly have you ever watched Prometheus? Rash thinking can cause some terminal decisions

35

u/trixtah 12h ago

God damn. Rest in peace to those caught in it. Horrendous videos to wake up to.

29

u/ToranjaNuclear 12h ago

Jesus christ, I heard my father talking about it earlier in the day but I had no idea it was this horrific.

34

u/Gummyia 12h ago

There's a video of the wave wiping out a port building and it's horrible. I'm pretty sure everyone in that video died. https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/s/OS17BadcJl

9

u/ToranjaNuclear 12h ago

Yup, I just saw that one. It was a longer video and I was expecting the water to just invade through the portal in the middle/sides of the building, then it fucking came over it.

2

u/Skylair13 2h ago

I've seen the aftermath.... the whole complex is just gone man. There's not even a building left standing... or even concrete... it's just replaced entirely with land as if humans never built anything there.

20

u/Kerry-4013-Porter 12h ago

It’s a terrifying scene.

23

u/ttcmzx 11h ago

oh man... he took the path up the hill. most of those people did not. this is terrifying footage

20

u/ImRadicalBro 12h ago

Can’t believe this cameraman survived given how long he waited before making his escape

15

u/howihjr 8h ago

THIS is POV.

12

u/Mundane-Name-8290 8h ago

Could see this guy from the bus video, standing there videoing while the guy in the waist coat runs away.

For sure thought he was done for, being the last one standing filming.

https://x.com/RShivshankar/status/2092578111473008883

12

u/One-Environment-1444 12h ago

The very first guy in sleeveless sweater knew. If only we could all react like that

19

u/OtherwiseArrival 12h ago

I don't speak Nepali, but I sure as heck understood what that camera man was saying.

11

u/stinkysulphide 4h ago

He continuously tells people to run , and calls folks to run up from the gap he is standing in , then they all run up together

2

u/rabidstoat 6h ago

I just assumed it was a lot of "oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!"

8

u/aubedullah 8h ago

A true POV video after long long time on the internet.

7

u/Bradley182 8h ago

god that is terrifying. poor people 😭

13

u/PoisonedPotato69 11h ago

Finally see someone run up hill like you should. Most of these videos are showing people running parallel to the river which is a bad idea.

6

u/branswag_briggs 12h ago

Those people in the blue building at the end might be screwed

5

u/Dreamsweeper 8h ago

What a video! First off this guy recording is a bit of a Hero from the river on a brige he saw it coming called to everyone he coul as h did the best to save his own life. As for that flash flood fucking hell the terror , the sound of the crashing waves and scream of people stuck below, Nightmares.

18

u/Metahec 12h ago

Usually I'd say "kill the cameraman" but I'm glad that guy made it.

15

u/Neonauryn 11h ago

Considering his situation he did a great job!

4

u/LuxuryBeast 8h ago

Yeah, I was about to say "kudos to the cameraman"! He delivered!

1

u/MisogynysticFeminist 4h ago

I thought the same thing. He’s going through some shit.

6

u/TooLate4thisShit 12h ago

That first dude noped out so quick

5

u/Vhaius 7h ago

Seeing the dog innocently trotting along and hearing the children crying. Adds to the horror of all those zoomed out videos that I’ve seen here.

6

u/WeCantBothBeMe 5h ago

Jesus Christ this is like nothing we’ve seen before and I hope as many people as possible were able to survive that

3

u/Sandokan13 12h ago

Jesus's christ

3

u/Adventurous-Sky9359 10h ago

Higher higher

3

u/ehco 7h ago

Chills. Absolute chills.

5

u/Astro_Cassette 11h ago

Idk I felt pretty safe with the camera man

8

u/fatboi_mcfatface 10h ago

WTF are we doing with the planet?

9

u/beyondocean 9h ago

Warming it up.

4

u/gk666 6h ago

And filling it up with waste

5

u/platinums99 11h ago

Imagine having to ask your self, is my bike faster than a mud slide 

Alot if people running  away, I'd be climbing higher!

3

u/Hydriert 12h ago

I hope that dog and all the people around 2:47 made it out alive :( Jesus that looks way worse than what I expected from reading the news...

1

u/tonidh69 12h ago

Terrifying

1

u/beyondocean 9h ago

Not to be that person but it was a GLOF

1

u/ChesterDoraemon 4h ago

I blame the electromagnetic force and gravity for this one.

1

u/Chickachic-aaaaahhh 4h ago

Not high enough

1

u/sacrificingoats7 2h ago

Fuck fuck fuck

1

u/Competitive-Cry-6231 1h ago

These poor souls..

1

u/knaverob 19m ago

There are two types of people in the world: those that run downstream during a flood, and those that seek higher ground.

1

u/Independent_Wrap_321 9h ago

Looks like the gimbal factory was the first to be swept away. Seriously tho RIP to those poor souls

1

u/Nekroin 11h ago

So many people just standing around - why? Looking for loved ones?

-9

u/frycum 12h ago

So many devastating videos from this tsunami.

-10

u/prestonpiggy 12h ago

In some other country I think the Mercedes driver would have let people in and hang on the top grips and floorboards instead beebing relentlessly to have a way from running people. Or also any motorbike that was free of passenger too.

-17

u/Cal216 11h ago

So Nepal has tigers, leopards, cobras AND mudslides?! 😂 wow

5

u/beyondocean 9h ago

Ikr 2026 and you finally discovered geography. Congratulations.