It took my breath away when I saw the pictures from Thame on the Internet today. The village lies at around 3800 metres in the Khumbu area, the region around Mount Everest. Masses of mud and water rolled through the village, which I visited in 2002 and 2019. According to the Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times”, around half of the village was severely damaged, especially the lower-lying areas. A school, a medical centre, seven houses and five lodges were swept away. Most of the houses were reportedly uninhabitable. At least one person is missing.
A stroke of luck: the water and mudslides hit the village in daylight. Most of the inhabitants were apparently able to reach safety in higher areas. The Gompa of Thame, one of the oldest and most important monasteries in the Khumbu, is located well above the village and is likely to have been spared from the disaster.
Cause still unclear
It is still unclear what caused the flood. “There are a couple of glaciers about a two-hour walk above the valley, but due to harsh conditions, it is currently impossible to investigate the source of the outburst,” Laxman Adhikari of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, the administration of the Khumbu region, told the Himalayan Times.
The inhabitants of low-lying villages were alarmed because the water masses were moving further down the valley. Scientists have long warned that climate change could cause the natural dams of glacial lakes to break and trigger flood disasters.
Home of Tenzing Norgay, Apa Sherpa and Kami Rita Sherpa
Thame is the home of several Everest legends. Tenzing Norgay, who climbed the highest mountain on earth for the first time in 1953 together with New Zealander Edmund Hillary, grew up in the village. Apa Sherpa, who stood on the summit of Everest a total of 21 times between 1990 and 2011, was born in Thame. The same applies to Kami Rita Sherpa, who reached the highest point for the 30th time last spring, more times than anyone else.
Many families in Thame have Everest climbers in their ranks. Like Lhakpa Gyaltsen Sherpa, who has been to the top of Everest eight times. I spent two nights in his lodge with my daughter in 2019. I think of him, his family and the other people in Thame on this unlucky day – and I feel for them.
Update 17 August: A reconnaissance flight by helicopter has revealed the cause of the flood of water and mud: Below Tesi Lapche La (also known as Tashi Lapcha), a 5,755-meter-high pass from the Rolwaling Valley into the Khumbu, the natural dam at one of at least five glacial lakes there has broken and the masses of water have poured down the valley.
Meanwhile, the Khumbu regional administration decided to provide immediate emergency aid of 50,000 rupees for the 15 Thames families who have lost their roof over their heads. The Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs is contributing a further 15,000 rupees. This is the equivalent of around 450 euros – no more than a drop in the ocean for the families who are left with nothing.
