In Nepal, a blue-green house has become a striking symbol of survival after being swept by floods, mudslides, and debris from Trishuli River. While everything along its path was destroyed, this house stood tall and strong.
A widely circulated video shows residents of the house standing on the upper floor witnessing the devastating floods, yet the house remained standing defiantly against the raging waters.
Last Wednesday, a glacier collapse in the Himalayas sent a catastrophic flash flood down a valley near the Nepal-China border, carrying massive rocks, trees, and mud. The flood ravaged an entire village, leaving roads, bridges, buildings, and communication lines destroyed, isolating many remote communities from the outside world.
On Monday, the death toll from the devastating flood was revised to over 900 people, with more than 4,000 individuals reported missing.
A house located in the Trishuli market area of Nuwakot district has been dubbed the “Miracle House” and “Green House” on social media, as photos show it standing tall amidst the rubble left by the flooding.
Social media videos from the day of the disaster showed floodwaters engulfing the lower part of the house, with mud covering the area and doors and windows being destroyed, while the residents sought refuge on the upper floor. Despite the chaos, the main structure of this reinforced concrete building remained stable, protecting the family inside.
The residents have been identified as Prakash Pandey Pyakurel, 45, his wife Lakshmi Pandey, their two children, and his elderly parents.
When the floods hit the village, the couple was at a nearby store. Their 7-year-old son had left for school just 15 minutes before, and their 11-year-old daughter was getting ready to leave as well.
Mrs. Pandey told the newspaper that due to the urgency of the situation, they had little time to move to a safer place and had to run back home. The family was trapped in the house for nearly two hours, watching as the floodwaters, carrying ice blocks and debris, battered the house from all sides, causing it to sway.
“We thought we wouldn’t survive,” said Lakshmi Pandey. She described how she was praying and worrying that her 7-year-old son would become an orphan.
“We were constantly chanting the name of God, thinking it was the end for us. This was our last reunion, we should sit together as a family for as long as possible. This was our last moment. That was my thought at that time,” she said.
Pandey said, “We have been given a new life. Everyone says it’s a miracle. We still can’t believe we are alive. After watching those videos, we can’t believe how we survived.”
Her son also survived because his school was located in a safe area.
Subsequent videos of the house show a family member waving a red flag, signaling for helicopter rescue.
Surveillance footage shows that last Wednesday at 8:32 a.m. local time, a massive flood swept through Nepal, leaving people with almost no time to escape the rushing floodwaters, mudslides, and giant rocks.
“It wasn’t water, it was a huge deluge of mud heading straight towards us,” Keshav Prasad Baral from Tupche village, located about 25 kilometers downstream on the border, told The Independent. “I tried to grab my wife’s hand, but she was swept away by the mudflow.”