09/11/2026
The Emptiness of Girilal:
A true account from the Bhote Koshi flood, August 2026.
The river took them all. On the morning of 26 August 2026, a wall of water and debris tore down the Bhote Koshi River valley in Rasuwa, Nepal. Triggered by a massive collapse of ice and rock high in the Himalayas, the surge gave almost no warning. In Timure, Girilal Budhathoki watched it arrive.
"They didn't even get a chance to flee... the flood swept them away-my children and my wife. It carried them far off right before my eyes."
- Girilal Budhathoki.
Girilal is in the hospital after the flood - the only member of his family still alive. His two daughters were fifteen and seventeen. His two sons were ten and twelve. His wife stood with them. In a single moment, the river claimed all five. There was no time to pull them to safety, no final embrace, no chance to say goodbye.
Girilal himself survived by clinging to the collapsing bank, suffering serious injuries to his head and back. When he finally reached higher ground and looked back, nothing remained. The house was gone. His family was gone.
Later, from a hospital bed in Kathmandu, he spoke the words that still silence those who hear them:
"They are all gone... I am left alone."
In an instant, a home was erased and a father's entire world was swept away. The cost of such loss cannot be measured in monetary value. Relief supplies matter. Financial help matters. But so does a listening presence, a steadying hand, and the quiet assurance that a person who has lost everything has not also been forgotten.
You are not alone.
We are with you.
You can rise again.
May those who grieve find the strength to endure.
Please consider donating or sharing to support people like Girilal who have lost their everything. All funds go directly to victims, providing relief and aid:
https://gofund.me/5379bef15