Nepal: He Evacuates 900 Students Before the Flood Sweeps Away Their School

Sunday 06 September 2026 - 13:54

Just a few minutes were enough to turn an uncertain alert into a race against time. On August 26, in Trishuli Bazaar, northern Nepal, Rajendra Dawadi ordered the evacuation of 900 students from his institution as a devastating flood threatened the town. Shortly after they were sheltered, the school was engulfed by the waters.

At 47 years old, the principal now finds himself at the head of a school that no longer exists. "I am a principal without a school," he sums up a few days after the disaster in a testimony collected by AFP.

A Difficult Alert to Assess

The morning had started like an ordinary school day. Around 9 a.m., the school's accountant arrived urgently to warn the administration: the water was rising, and several villages were already affected.

Another staff member quickly confirmed that a significant mass of water had formed upstream of the Trishuli River. Faced with information whose severity was still difficult to gauge, Rajendra Dawadi had to decide immediately.

The risk was twofold: interrupt classes based on an alert that could have proven unfounded, or wait and expose the students to potentially deadly danger.

He chose evacuation.

900 Students Evacuated Before the Worst

The announcement caused panic among the students. Some began to cry, while a teenage girl fainted in front of a classroom. The school buses that were still heading to the institution were also instructed to turn back.

All the students present were eventually directed to higher ground.

From the heights, Rajendra Dawadi then witnessed the destruction of his school. The building, where he himself had been educated, disappeared in minutes under the force of the flood.

This evacuation allowed the vast majority of the students present in the institution to be sheltered. However, the disaster did not spare the school community: five students died outside the school, as well as a teacher and a guard. The latter reportedly tried to close a door before being swept away, according to the principal.

A Teenager Separated from Her Family

Among the evacuated students is Santoshi Dotel, 17. She was attending an accounting class when the order to leave the institution was given.

After her evacuation, the young girl tried to reach her family with a friend. But the violence of the rising waters quickly disrupted their plan. The bridge they hoped to cross was swept away by the flood, forcing them to seek higher ground.

Santoshi would remain without news of her parents for several hours. She was eventually evacuated by helicopter and reunited with her mother four days after the disaster.

For her, the wait was particularly harrowing. Seeing the raging river, she had lost all hope of finding her daughter alive.

A School to Rebuild

Now, Rajendra Dawadi wants to focus on reconstruction. He is asking the authorities to allow the reopening of the institution as soon as possible, despite the extent of the damage.

The principal draws a parallel with the 2015 earthquake, which had already destroyed the school. At that time, the building could be rebuilt. This time, the situation is different: the land itself has been lost in the disaster.

The extent of the destruction goes beyond just this school. According to Save the Children, at least 69 schools have been destroyed by the floods, potentially affecting the education of nearly 19,000 children.

A Disaster with Significant Consequences

The tragedy in Trishuli Bazaar is part of a national disaster, with the reported toll indicating more than 1,300 dead and about 5,000 people still missing in Nepal.

Behind these figures are separated families, destroyed infrastructures, and entire communities deprived of their schools.

In Trishuli Bazaar, Rajendra Dawadi's story mainly illustrates the fragility of decisions made in the face of a sudden disaster. In just a few minutes, a simple alert necessitated a choice that could impact the lives of hundreds of children. The principal chose not to wait. His school, however, did not survive the flood.