At least 14 people have been killed and 11 remain missing after relentless rainfall triggered new floods and landslides across Nepal in late September, compounding the devastation of a catastrophic disaster the previous month that left more than 1,450 dead and 5,000 missing. Chitwan district, part of the Bagmati province in central Nepal, was among the worst affected, with 49 districts placed under flood warnings. Rivers including the Narayani, the Tinau and several Karnali tributaries surged above danger levels, sweeping away homes, blocking highways and forcing mass evacuations.

The latest flooding follows a month of crisis that began when flash floods, triggered by a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages across northern and central Nepal. In Rupandehi district, part of the western Lumbini province, floodwaters from the Tinau River swept away six houses along the riverbank in Butwal, with security forces evacuating around 1,000 residents overnight. In the Karnali region in the northwest, landslides blocked key highways including the Karnali Corridor and the Nagna-Gamgadhi road, while river levels continued to rise. Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that nearly 13,800 people had been rescued since the disaster began.

The cascading emergencies are dealing a severe blow to Nepal's tourism industry, which accounts for nearly 8 percent of the country's GDP and employs more than one million people. September marks the start of the peak trekking season, when skies clear after the monsoon and visitors flock to Himalayan trails around Pokhara and routes in the Annapurna range. This year, however, tour operators, hotel workers and small roadside vendors report bookings at a fraction of normal levels. Damaged highways connecting Kathmandu to tourist destinations like Pokhara and Chitwan — a city roughly 150 kilometres from the capital, known for wildlife safaris — were closed for weeks, prompting mass cancellations.

Tourism workers describe the situation in stark terms. Resort operators in Chitwan saw 80 percent of September reservations cancelled within hours of the disaster. Taxi drivers and trekking commission agents in Kathmandu report doing roughly a quarter of their usual business. Vendors who depend on tourist traffic along major highways say their income has collapsed. Travel advisories issued by the UK and US embassies warned that many areas remained unstable, while Indian diplomatic officials urged travellers to distinguish between affected and unaffected zones, emphasising that much of the country remains accessible.

Nepal is a landlocked Himalayan nation sandwiched between India and China, prone to monsoon flooding and landslides that worsen each year under changing climate patterns. The scale of this season's destruction — with fresh floods striking before recovery from the last disaster had even begun — has raised urgent questions about the country's disaster preparedness and its ability to protect a tourism-dependent economy that millions of Nepalis rely on for their livelihoods. Authorities across affected districts have urged residents near rivers and flood-prone slopes to remain on alert as rain continues to fall.