Politics
90 Americans Missing After Catastrophic Floods: ‘Tragedy Of Epic Proportions’
About 90 Americans remain unaccounted for after catastrophic flash floods tore through the Nepal-China border region, killing hundreds and leaving families across the United States desperate for answers.
The U.S. State Department said Thursday that no American deaths had been confirmed, while three U.S. citizens had been rescued.
Many of those still missing were believed to be traveling to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred pilgrimage destination for Hindus, Buddhists and other religious groups.
The disaster has triggered frantic appeals from loved ones who have lost contact with relatives traveling through the region, including Americans from Virginia, Texas, Ohio and New York.
One of the missing is 45-year-old Venus Rajnikant Patel, an Indian-born U.S. citizen who recently moved from St. Louis to Cincinnati.
A desperate search is underway for more than 1,500 people still missing after catastrophic flooding devastates Nepal and Tibet.
At least 547 people are dead, with about 90 Americans among those still unaccounted for.
The disaster was reportedly triggered by a glacier collapse… pic.twitter.com/bTBOsO7Ox7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 28, 2026
Patel had been planning his pilgrimage for two years and spoke with family members shortly before the flooding struck.
His brother said Patel showed them his hotel room on the Nepal side of the border and talked about how excited he was to cross into Tibet.
His friend Jolene Gosha said the group was devastated when they realized his hotel was directly in the area hit by the floodwaters.
“We’re just hoping, hoping that by some chance he was able to climb his way out of it,” Gosha said. “I don’t want to give myself false hope because I know the reality is that he’s probably not with us.”
Gosha remembered Patel as an energetic traveler known for dancing and organizing surprise performances for friends.
“He’s always smiling from ear to ear,” Gosha said. “He’d dance so goofily and didn’t care who was watching.”
Another missing American is 72-year-old Long Island resident Jitendra Patel, who was traveling with a tour group on a Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.
His son, Sunny Patel, said his father called Wednesday morning through WhatsApp and said he had crossed the border into Tibet.
After seeing video of the destruction, Sunny learned that his father had been in the exact area where the flooding hit.
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“My heart sank,” Sunny said, adding that he “didn’t think it was possible that my dad would be there at ground zero.”
Sunny described his father as the “life of the party” who enjoys golf and socializing. Though retired, Jitendra reportedly drives for Uber because he enjoys meeting and talking with people.
The family has not heard from him since the flooding.
“It gets worse by every hour, obviously,” Sunny said.
The Isha Foundation, a spiritual organization based in India with a U.S. campus in Tennessee, said 77 people traveling with its groups were at an immigration center in Gyirong, Tibet, when the floods struck.
Leslie Crespi, a community liaison for the foundation’s U.S. campus, said 22 of those individuals were Americans affiliated with the organization. Three volunteers supporting the trekkers were also at the immigration center.
“We had communication with the coordinator of the group at about 9:05 Nepalese time saying that they had arrived there. And then by 9:14 is when this flash flood hit,” Crespi said.
She described the missing trekkers as “like family,” adding that for many participants, the pilgrimage is a “lifelong dream to go and be there.”
The scale of the devastation has also hit communities in the United States with ties to Nepal.
At a candlelight vigil in New York City, Long Island resident Tak Ruwali said many local guides in the affected region had disappeared from contact.
“It means they are probably gone,” Ruwali added.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that U.S. officials had spoken with Nepalese leaders and offered assistance.
Trump said the United States would provide “anything they want.”
He also said there were 50 or 60 Americans believed to be in the area, while cautioning that officials had not yet completed a full accounting.
Search and rescue efforts remain underway as authorities try to locate survivors across a vast disaster zone where roads, communications and infrastructure have been badly damaged.
For families waiting on word, the uncertainty has only grown more painful by the hour as officials work to determine the fate of the dozens of Americans still missing.
