Days after a wall of water and debris ripped through Nepal, Shanti Lamichhane sat on a fruit crate in the dirt where her village once stood, staring at what remained of her home.
Forced to flee for their lives without time to take anything with them, many survivors are now returning to salvage whatever might remain — or simply to see what became of what they once called home. Hari Prasad Rimal returned to his home in the village of Devighat, hoping to recover treasured belongings — not least some jewellery and cash. He brought back a photograph of his daughter. In Dhunge, Navraj Upretti waded through knee-high sludge towards his home, flanked by two rescuers carrying shovels by his side. Upretti, who ran a restaurant in the area. That was completely destroyed. Santosh Adhikari was in Kathmandu when the deluge swept away his home in Dhunge. He returned three days later to find the house buried.
The village of Dhunge, once home to roughly 150 families, now lies in ruins, reduced to a swampy expanse with an ominous rotting stench — one of dozens of settlements obliterated by the Himalayan floods.
“The house was inundated; I had managed to get barely 100 metres away,” said Mr.
