A Nightmare Unfolding From Afar

The devastation from this week’s deadly flash floods in Nepal has reached deep into the New York tri-state area, where several families are now desperately searching for loved ones among the nearly 100 Americans reported missing.

Long Island residents Amita Amin, 67, and Jitendra Manubhai Patel, 63, along with Tejal Vyomesh Patel, 64, of New Jersey, were traveling with a seven-member tour group on a religious pilgrimage to Tibet when the flooding hit on Wednesday, according to Newsday.

A Delayed Journey Turns Tragic

The group flew out of JFK Airport on August 22, bound for Kathmandu, before attempting to cross into Tibet to visit Mount Kailash, a peak considered sacred across several faiths. Landslides and a vehicle breakdown forced them to spend an extra night in Kathmandu before they were able to continue their journey.

Aditi Patel, daughter to Tejal Patel and daughter-in-law to Amin, says her mother’s phone location has remained fixed at an immigration building near the Nepal-China border since Wednesday, the day the floods struck. “That’s where the story ends, and that’s where the story gets dicey,” she said, describing the agonizing uncertainty of not knowing what happened next.

Jitendra Patel’s son, Sunny, said his father called him at 8:13 a.m. local time that morning, just before the flooding began around 8:37 a.m. “He told us that he had already cleared Chinese immigration and was in Tibet,” Sunny wrote in a public post. “We have been unable to contact him since that call.”

More Families Caught in the Same Uncertainty

New York physician Radhika Sharma says her parents, Ramesh, 65, and Neelam, 64, are also missing after crossing the same Himalayan corridor with the same tour group, Nepal Trekking Planner. She last heard from them just 40 minutes before the floodwaters hit, calling the following hours “the worst 24 hours of my life.”

In Queens, restaurant owner Dawa Cerpa said his uncle has also been unreachable since the disaster, describing repeated failed attempts to reach friends and family back home.

A Disaster of Staggering Scale

The flooding, triggered by a glacier collapse, has been described by local officials as a “tsunami from the sky.” More than 390 people have died, and over 1,400 remain missing as of Thursday, with roughly 90 of those believed to be Americans.

Aditi says she has reached out to U.S. embassies in Nepal, China and India, along with the U.S. consulate and several elected officials, in hopes of gathering any information. Despite the communication blackout, she says she’s choosing to hold onto hope.

“I am feeling hopeful that we can still hear good news about every single person who’s missing, not just ours,” she told Newsday. “We just want to spread the word. We want to know that they’re OK.”

Source: Compiled from various sources