“Swept Away by Floodwaters, I Survived — but My 4-Year-Old Cousin Slipped From My Hand and Was Found 100 Miles Downstream”
Swastik Poudel(14), a ninth-grade student from Betrawati in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, recalls surviving a sudden, debris-filled flood that swept him and his young cousin away while on their way to school. His 4-year-old cousin’s body was later found around 100 miles downstream. (Photo by Dipendra Dhungana)
BETRAWATI, Nepal — Swostik Poudel, a ninth-grade student from Betrawati in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, was preparing to leave for school last Wednesday morning when a neighbor warned him that a flood was approaching.
Poudel had put on his school uniform, locked the house, and was about to leave. He had received no prior warning that a flood was coming.
He immediately called his mother. She told him she was near the river, but he could not clearly understand what she was saying.
“I thought there was no road by the river and that I had misunderstood her, or that something had happened,” Poudel said. “So I ended the call.”
He then set off for school with his 4-year-old cousin, carrying his schoolbag and books. As panic spread and the floodwaters grew more threatening, the two began running toward safety.
People from a nearby hostel were also fleeing uphill. After they told Poudel that a flood was coming, he looked down and saw the devastation.
“It looked as if the entire sky was covered in smoke,” he said. “Betrawati had already been completely submerged.”
Poudel picked up his cousin and ran. He warned relatives and acquaintances along the way, urging them to flee quickly. A local resident helped carry the boy for part of the distance, but Poudel soon had to take him back into his arms.
They searched for a path toward the forest but found the way blocked by wire fencing. The passage was too narrow for large numbers of people to escape at once. With no clear route, Poudel began looking for another way out while carrying the boy.
They eventually tried to jump over a wall to reach the side of a canal, where other children were also attempting to cross. Before they could get across, floodwaters suddenly surged from above.
“Just as I was about to cross the canal, the river came rushing down from above,” Poudel said. “It swept away the wall of a petrol station and people at the same time.”
The sudden, debris-filled flood swept Poudel and his cousin away together. Mud covered Poudel’s face, and the boy slipped from his hands.
“The mud hit me all over my face,” he said. “My cousin was close to me, but he slipped and was swept away.”
Poudel said the flood carried him for about 10 minutes before washing him into the school compound.
After emerging from the water, he slowly made his way uphill. Along the way, he encountered his sister and elderly village residents who were also trying to reach safety.
The danger had not passed. When another surge came, they fled into the forest. The ground began to shake there as well, and they ran continuously for about an hour.
Despite the chaos, Poudel held on to the mobile phones he was carrying. He had three phones with him. He lost one small phone, while his own initially continued to work. But as he tried to hold on to his sister while fleeing, the screen was damaged, and he lost contact with his mother.
Family members were separated in the aftermath. Poudel continued searching for a safe place. When the water level began to fall, he and others took shelter in a house above the village and waited for his mother.
“We kept waiting for my mother to come, but she didn’t arrive, even by nightfall,” he said.
He later learned that his mother had also been searching for them. She had reached a stream near the school but was forced to turn back after the current became too strong to cross.
It took hours to re-establish contact. A man from the upper part of the area eventually found Poudel and told him that his mother had called.
“My mother was crying,” he said. “I didn’t see her that night. I met her only the next morning.”
The cousin Poudel had tried to save was only 4 years old. After the flood swept them away, Poudel lost all contact with him.
“I was about to cross the canal when the flood came,” Poudel said, breaking down. “It swept me away too, but my cousin slipped and was carried away.”
Poudel later learned that the boy’s body had been found around 100 miles downstream, in the Chitwan-Nawalparasi area.
He also does not know what happened to his classmates who were heading to school that morning. Poudel had reached the school gate but fled when the flood rose rapidly.
Poudel still panics when he recalls the disaster. He had left home after breakfast expecting a normal day at school, but within minutes he was running for his life while carrying his young cousin. Though he was swept away while trying to save the boy, he managed to survive.
“I never made it inside the school. I was at the gate,” he said. “When the flood came, I ran. I couldn’t find any of my friends.”
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