KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Bishworaj Khadka, a cook in Lalitpur, could hear the Nakhu River becoming louder and louder as he sat with his wife and daughter-in-law in their house situated at the river’s edge. It hadn’t stopped raining for about 12 hours and the swollen river was getting dangerously close.

When they felt the initial tremors shake their living room floor, the family quickly fled the house. The rest is a blur in Bishowraj’s memory. He had only managed to grab some cash before rushing out. Just 15 minutes later, their house collapsed right before their eyes.

Bishowraj took his family to his brother’s residence, further away from the riverbank.

It was the morning of Saturday, Sept. 28, and the rain would continue for another day, leading to landslides and floods in areas surrounding Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. More than 200 people perished in the worst flooding to hit the region in five decades. Over 10 inches of rainfall fell in the Kathmandu Valley in two days, nearly 20% of the monthly average.

The Bagmati River in Kathmandu overflowed, submerging low-lying areas, damaging temporary shelters and forcing daily-wage workers to seek safety from the raging waters. Some of the urban dwellings were covered in mud and debris of broken tree branches and damaged buildings, up to a foot deep.

By Monday, the sun was shining, and Bishowraj and his wife Sharmila returned to the remnants of their home to attempt to salvage whatever they could. The damage was substantial, and Sharmila diligently searched for intact cooking utensils.

Elsewhere in the capital, earthmovers were used to lift parked vehicles out of the mud, and to clear the ground floors of the slime left by the receding floodwaters. Several highways leading to Kathmandu were damaged, causing traffic jams and disrupting supplies.