Kathmandu: When a 16-year-old Sameer Tamang reached his school in Nepal’s flood-hit Rasuwa district, the Bhotekoshi River was already a roaring wave of destruction that washed away his home and took away his sisters.

“My younger sister had an injury on her hand and couldn’t go to school, so my older sister also stayed home to look after her,” he said, taking shelter in the holding centre of Shivalaya Basic School in Laharepauwa, Rasuwa.

He had already reached school when the flood hit Bhotekoshi.

His sisters, 13-year-old Priya and 7-year-old Parvati, were at home. After learning about the flood, Sameer, a student of Neelkantha Secondary School, ran away to save his life. But his sisters at home have been out of contact since then, Ekantipur reported.

“I don’t know what to do now. My sisters were like my closest friends, and in a single moment, the flood took them away,” he said.

He further said that the flood also washed away his house and his father Surya had escaped to save his life, while his mother, Chhesang, is currently working in Kuwait.

Sameer is one of hundreds of children now taking shelter in relief blocks in Rasuwa and Nuwakot following the catastrophic floods of August 26.

Flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal.

The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

It has killed more than 1,300, while around 5,000 people remain missing.

Thousands of children in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and surrounding areas have been affected by floods in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, while many have lost or been separated from their parents and relatives.

Initial reports from the Ministry of Education indicate that 250 students and teachers are unreachable, while UNICEF says 17,000 children have been affected by the floods, the report added.

Most of the children have become parentless. There is no home left.

Another one is Ranju Tamang.

Ranju, a student of Kalika Himalaya Secondary School in Kalika Rural Municipality, Rasuwa, lost her mother, brother and nephew in the flood.

Having lost her father Buddhiman five years ago, she also lost her mother Shubhamaya in the current flood. Shubhamaya had gone to a relative’s house when the flood hit.

Not only her mother, but her elder brother Suryaman, nephew Gyan Bahadur, aunt Tharmendo, uncle Gyan Bahadur and uncle’s one-year-old son Praveen are also missing in the flood.

Another such person is 14-year-old Akash Tamang from Rasuwa Khalte. Before the flood hit Trishuli, he had reached Uttargaya Public School.

He was playing with his friends there. He saw the flood coming with a loud noise. There was a commotion and a stampede in the school.

“We ran towards the forest, otherwise how would we have survived!” he added, who lives in a holding centre.

“My siblings who study in another school were also not saved. Akash said that his 8-year-old brother Ashwin and 11-year-old sister Anisha have been out of contact since the devastating flash floods.

According to the preliminary data of the Ministry of Education, 250 students and teachers are unreachable due to the floods. Out of 230 students, 213 are unreachable, while the floods have swept away 17.

Out of 19 teachers who were unreachable, 10 have been swept away by the floods. The body of one teacher has been found. 23 schools in the disaster-affected areas have been damaged. Of these, 8 are in Nuwakot, 7 in Rasuwa and the rest in Dhading and other districts, said Bir Bahadur Dhami, Information Officer at the Ministry of Education.