Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods

Kathmandu: When floodwaters submerged large swathes of Nepal s capital, Indra Prasad Timilsina was able to save the three cows that keep his family fe...

Kathmandu: When floodwaters submerged large swathes of Nepal's capital, Indra Prasad Timilsina was able to save the three cows that keep his family fed -- but everything else was claimed by the river.

The slum he calls home in Kathmandu is one of several neighbourhoods devastated by pounding weekend rains that disproportionately hit the city's poorest and vulnerable inhabitants.

The Bagmati river and its tributaries which criss-cross the Kathmandu valley, broke their banks during the downpour, pummelling flimsy wood and sheet metal shacks that house thousands of people along their shorelines.

"This is like a nightmare. I have never seen such an extreme flood in my life," the 65-year-old told AFP.

"Everything is gone," he added. "If you are dead, you don't have to worry about anything. But if you survive, you have to face these problems."