Nepal Principal Led Students to Higher Ground Minutes Before Floodwaters Erased Their School

QikTimes Desk

School principal Rajendra Dawadi said he had only minutes to decide what to do when warnings began to reach Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nepal’s Trishuli Valley. A colleague rushed in with news that floodwater was racing through nearby communities. Another teacher received a warning by phone. Then a parent arrived to take a child home. Without waiting for a formal confirmation, Dawadi ordered the school day stopped and told students and staff to move uphill.

According to the Associated Press, that decision helped at least 900 students escape before flash floods tore through the campus and swept the school away. Dawadi said he rang the school bell, directed children and staff out of the building and followed them toward a nearby hill. From there, he watched water, mud, boulders and debris overrun the school where he had once studied and later taught.

The evacuation unfolded amid a broader Himalayan disaster that AP said was triggered after a glacial collapse. The floods devastated parts of Nepal’s Trishuli Valley, destroying homes, bridges and villages. By the time Dawadi reached higher ground, the danger facing the school had become unmistakable. AP reported that two staff members could not make it out and remained missing.

The school’s size helps explain the scale of the decision. Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School had 1,643 students enrolled, AP reported. At least 900 were already on campus that morning, while others were still traveling. Dawadi said he not only cleared those already inside but also called bus drivers and told them not to continue to the school. One bus had already arrived when he instructed the driver to turn back. AP reported that the bus crossed a newly constructed bridge and that the older bridge beside it collapsed moments later.

Dawadi’s account has quickly become one of the clearest human stories to emerge from the floods. He described the school as a place bound closely to his own life and said the loss was difficult to absorb. Parents later embraced him and thanked him for saving their children, AP reported, while one 14-year-old student, Suvina Tamang, said the building was swept away shortly after the evacuation.

The destruction of one campus also points to a wider education crisis. AP cited Save the Children as saying at least 69 schools in northern Nepal were completely destroyed, putting nearly 19,000 students at risk of prolonged disruption. Thousands of children across the region have been left without classrooms as rescue and recovery efforts continue.

Dawadi did not present his actions as exceptional. He told AP that protecting students was simply his duty. But his account also highlighted what comes next: counseling for children who lived through the disaster, temporary arrangements so classes can resume, and government support to rebuild schools before the interruption hardens into a longer educational setback.

On the event date, 2026-08-31, his story stood as both an example of fast local judgment and a reminder that the floods’ damage will be measured not only in lives lost, but also in the institutions entire communities depend on.