Kathmandu, Sept. 2 -- Nima Dorje Tamang was in Hakubesi, a hamlet south of Syafrubesi in Rasuwa, when the flood struck. Before Tamang could prepare, he heard a thunderous roar and saw the flood gushing toward him, its waves taller than him.

Tamang and his family ran uphill for their lives but the waves caught him and a rock struck his leg, fracturing it. Swept into the river, he managed to grab a tree near the bank and clung to it for what felt like two hours until his father and his brother came to rescue him. For the next 24 hours, he said he slipped in and out of consciousness before a helicopter brought him to Kathmandu.

At the orthopedic inpatient ward of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Tamang told the doctors, "Even the ai...