After Brother Survives and Five Relatives Are Lost, Kentucky’s Sunil Shrestha Joins Nepal Flood Relief Drive
Sunil Shrestha, a Lexington, Kentucky, resident who lost three relatives and has two others still missing after devastating floods in Nepal, has joined a relief campaign urging Nepali Americans to donate to the government’s official disaster relief fund.
When Sunil Shrestha woke up in Kentucky, his phone was filled with messages from Nepal.
More than 90 messages were waiting on Viber. At first, he thought they might be birthday wishes for his young daughter. It was her birthday, and he did not immediately look closely at his phone.
Then he began reading.
His relatives, who had left Kathmandu for a trip to Gosainkunda, were missing after a sudden flood near Betrawati.
“I was mentally disturbed,” Shrestha said. “I could not think. Tears just came from my eyes.”
For hours, Shrestha, who lives in Lexington after moving from New York, did not know whether anyone in his family group had survived. His brother, Anil Shrestha, could not be reached. Neither could his aunt, uncle, cousins or other relatives who were traveling together.
Later, a call came from Nepal: Anil, Sunil’s biological brother, had been found alive.
He had been swept away by floodwaters and was walking through a forest. He borrowed a villager’s phone and briefly contacted his family. Shrestha later obtained the number and spoke with his brother for about 40 seconds.
“He asked, ‘How are uncle and aunt?’” Shrestha said. “Then the phone disconnected.”
That was the first sign that Anil was alive.
It was also the beginning of a loss that would grow heavier in the days that followed.
A Disaster That Has Left More Than 1,000 Dead
The Shrestha family’s tragedy is part of a much larger disaster that has devastated communities across Nepal.
According to an update issued by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority as of Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. local time, floods and related disasters had killed 1,050 people, injured 222 and left about 3,196 people unaccounted for.
The deaths were reported across several districts, including 321 in Chitwan, 216 in Nawalparasi East, 170 in Nawalparasi West, 142 in Nuwakot, 65 in Gorkha, 57 in Dhading, 41 in Rasuwa and 38 in Tanahu.
The scale of the response has also been significant. Authorities said 11,993 people had been rescued so far, including 273 foreign nationals and 4,091 Nepalis rescued by Nepal Army helicopters.
A Pilgrimage Journey
In a social media post, Anil Shrestha, Sunil’s biological brother, described the trip as a planned pilgrimage to Gosainkunda.
The group included several of Sunil’s close relatives, including his maternal aunt, Sundari Shrestha, and her husband, Gopal Maharjan; their daughter, Arsana Shrestha; his maternal cousin Kasish Shrestha; and his paternal cousin Rohan Shrestha.
Nine relatives and other travelers left Kathmandu at about 6 a.m. in three Scorpio vehicles.
They planned to stop for food in Dhunche, according to Anil’s account.
At about 9:15 a.m., the three vehicles were waiting with many others in a line near a police post in Betrawati Bazaar, where drivers were entering vehicle details. Some passengers, including Sundari and Gopal, stepped outside to look at the surroundings. Anil, his cousins and others remained inside the vehicles, he recalled.
No one recognized the danger before it arrived.
“Until one second before, we had no indication,” Anil recalled in his account.
Then a powerful wave struck the vehicle.
“There Was No Time to Think”
Anil recalled that he was seated in the back when the water hit. He said he escaped through a front door, apparently propelled by the force of the water. He believed his brother escaped through another door.
“It happened in such a short time that there was no opportunity even to think,” Anil recalled. “Whatever happened, the body’s own reflex action was working.”
He recalled seeing his uncle and aunt moving toward a house. Around him, floodwaters surged through the settlement. He described hearing screams from all directions.
The force of the flood threw him toward an uphill wall or embankment, according to his account. Holding on, he struggled to stay alive.
He recalled that the flood appeared so large that he saw no chance of survival. As he fought to climb higher, he thought of his son, Anshuman; his wife, Saru; his late mother; and his brother Sunil, who lives in the United States.
Below him, he could not see what was happening to the relatives and travelers who had been with him.
As he climbed, Anil recalled, he began to feel there might be a chance that he would survive. Looking down, he said he saw floodwaters engulf vehicles, people, houses, police personnel and the Betrawati market area.
“My hands, feet and body were shaking,” he recalled. “The whole world looked dark.”
Although he believed the relatives who had traveled with him were gone, he said he continued to hope he might find them and prayed to God for mercy.
Three Recovered, Two Still Missing
Sunil Shrestha said three relatives were later found dead: Sundari Shrestha, his mother’s sister; Rohan Shrestha, his father’s sister’s son; and Kasish Shrestha, his mother’s brother’s daughter. Their funeral rites have been completed.
Rohan and Kasish were found about three days after the flood in or near the family vehicle, Sunil said.
Sundari was found later in Galchhi, he said. Family members identified her through a tattoo on her hand bearing the name “Gopal,” along with other distinguishing details. Her body was taken to Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for a postmortem examination before cremation.
Gopal Maharjan, Sundari’s husband and Sunil’s maternal uncle by marriage, and Arsana Shrestha, Sundari and Gopal’s daughter and Sunil’s maternal cousin, remain missing, Sunil said.
Her younger sister, about 5, is now without her mother, father and older sister. The child is staying with her elderly grandmother, he said.
“It is a very difficult situation,” Sunil Shrestha said.
Facing the Aftermath
After surviving the flood, Anil Shrestha, Sunil’s biological brother, walked through the night and was found by Nepal Army personnel, according to Sunil. He was taken to a camp in Battar for treatment and later sent to Kathmandu.
He is now at home in Kathmandu with his wife, Sunil said. He suffered injuries to his hands and feet and had swelling on his face. His family is seeking counseling and support because he remains deeply distressed.
“He is in panic,” Sunil said. “He cries, screams and talks repeatedly.”
As his family confronts the aftermath of the flood, Sunil Shrestha has joined an awareness campaign encouraging members of the community in the United States to send contributions directly to the official Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund of the Government of Nepal.
Nepali community outlets Khasokhas and NepYork launched the campaign in Jackson Heights, Queens, after the recent floods in Nepal. The campaign urges people to donate directly to the official fund, without intermediaries, fees or overhead.
Shrestha said he has posted campaign posters in Kentucky, including at the restaurant where he works and has an ownership stake.
The campaign says community generosity is especially important during a crisis but warns that unauthorized fundraisers, middlemen and unverified accounts can divert or misdirect aid. Its goal is to ensure donations support emergency food, shelter and long-term rebuilding for flood-affected families in Nepal.
Shrestha also said employees and partners at Tandoor Indian Restaurant in Lexington agreed to collect the restaurant’s cash and credit card tips for the week and send them to Nepal flood relief.
From Kentucky, he continues to call his brother every day, waiting for information about the two relatives still missing and trying to help a family whose pilgrimage ended in disaster.
This coverage was made possible by a grant from URL Collective, a nonprofit supporting local, diverse media.