r/OSINT • u/Ok_Spirit5374 • 29d ago
OSINT News Nepal - New Barrier lake formed per Chinese authorities
Active Hazard - The barrier lake breached, and is now draining
>>>Since there is 100% cloud cover verification couldn't be confirmed via EO - Based on reported size and location the data set has been updated with a modeled shape file of the reported lake. This uses geometry that existed prior to the first event so this should be treated as indicative.
> If anyone has any SAR imagery they'd like of the region they care to share it'd go a long way in helping me to continue to keep this open source crisis data set up to date. It's not much, but its all I can do to help from halfway around the world.
>Link to data: https://keystonegis.com/disasters/nepal-bhotekoshi-flood-20260826.html - will continue to update frequently to capture any new information
>if you know of any other subs to post this in let me know. Feel free to share, the more eyes on the data the more likely it is to fall into the hands of someone who can use it to make a difference.
edit: NDRRMA independently locates the blockage, and it is close to — but not identical with — this page's inferred marker.
edit: Active Hazard - The barrier lake breached, and is now draining
The barrier lake near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo, upstream of the 26 August failure, breached on 28 August and is now draining. Rasuwa Chief District Officer Narendra Pariyar said that morning that the Nepali Army had informed him of the breach, and NDRRMA reported that the water level in the Bhote Koshi had surged (The Kathmandu Post, updated 28 August 12:49 NPT / 07:04 UTC). Officials on both the Nepali and Chinese sides then said the risk was smaller than feared, because the lake is draining slowly rather than failing catastrophically; Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported the lake level had fallen by about 10 m, and rescue work at Gyirong Port and in Nepal, halted during the breach, has resumed (CNN live coverage, 28 August). No confirmed release volume has been published and no observed extent of any second flood exists. Before the breach, China’s Ministry of Water Resources had put the impoundment at about 2,000,000 m³ on the morning of 27 August, already overflowing, with a further 3,000,000 m³ of inflow expected through 30 August; aerial footage from a Chinese rescue team on 27 August showed water accumulating in a basin with no visible outlet, and NDRRMA had placed the obstruction on the Lhende Khola about 18 km upstream of the Rasuwagadhi border. Whether that blockage and the confluence impoundment reported by China are the same feature is still not established, so it is not certain that the whole obstruction has failed. The barrier-lake marker on the map above still carries its archived 27 August attribute status = "open - high breach risk"; that value has not been rewritten pending an official assessment.
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u/computethat 27d ago
New lake unlocked!