A family is searching for answers after an American traveling on a spiritual pilgrimage went missing amid a catastrophic Himalayan flood that has left hundreds dead and thousands unaccounted for.Sunny Patel was watching viral footage of the torrent on the border between Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region when he realized his father, Jitendra Patel, could have been caught in the disaster.Employees retrieve banknotes near a bank covered in sludge after flash floods in Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on Aug.30, 2026.
The number of people missing in the catastrophic flood that sliced through the border area between Nepal and Tibet neared 3,000 as rescuers scoured deep mud for survivors.(AFP via Getty Images)TRAPPED NEPALI WORKERS PULLED FROM HYDROPOWER TUNNEL AFTER CATASTROPHIC FLOODING"I watched the video and I just thought of how horrific it was.
And then...probably 30 seconds later, it registered," he recalled."I texted my mom, and she was hoping that we hadn't seen the video.
But of course, it was so viral by then...My mom responded and said, 'That's exactly where he was,' actually."Sunny said he had last spoken to his father on Wednesday morning around local time, when he believed his father had already crossed the border from Nepal into China, though he has been unable to confirm the details.The most frustrating part, he said, is the lack of information coming out of China.
He added that his family has spoken to embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing, as well as the U.S.State Department.A drone view shows damaged buildings and houses covered in mud next to the Likhu River following deadly flash floods and mudslides in Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, on Aug.
30, 2026.(REUTERS)DEATH TOLL FROM MUDSLIDES, FLOODING AT NEPAL-CHINA BORDER CLIMBS PAST 670; NEARLY 3,000 MISSINGThey have filed missing person reports "with every agency we can think of, and some have been responsive.""We're trying to go on these media segments and get the awareness out there ...