A glacier collapse and mudslide in the Himalayas caused a catastrophic and cascading flood in Nepal, and thousands of people remain missing as the death toll rises.
More than 2,500 people are unaccounted for, and nearly 800 people have died in Nepal as of Aug. 30. An additional 16 people have died and nearly 550 are missing across the border in China, USA TODAY reported.
Dozens of Americans were reported missing by Nepal's tourism board as part of hundreds of foreign nationals who were in the area at the time of the flood.
Now, the family of one Canton, Georgia woman is holding out hope that she will be found as rescue officials continue to search through debris left by one of the most severe natural disasters in the region.
Cherokee County family waits for answers
In a rescue flyer shared
by 11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross, 60-year-old Mary Sorenson was identified as one of the missing Americans in Nepal.
She was in the country for a Mansarovar pilgrimage, a spiritual journey to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar located in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The trip is typically made by those who practice Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Bon, who all hold the location as sacred.
Sorenson was on the trip organized by Isha Sacred Walks and was heading back into Nepal the last time she communicated with her family. Her last known location was at the immigration facility in Gyirong on the Tibet side of the border. She was headed back into Nepal to Kathmandu and eventually Delhi, India to come home. She was last known to be at that location at 9 a.m. local time on Aug. 26.
Videos of the immigration center taken the same morning show devastation as flood waters crashed into building and swept away people and roads.
In an interview with WSB-TV, Sorenson's son said she had texted her family that morning thanking them for the trip and saying she had a great experience.
"She was able to hike up to an incredible mountain with incredible views and swim in an incredible lake and experience all these amazing things that she felt would help her get closer to God and experience God's grace," Riley Wildeman told the outlet. "The group that she was with was able to confirm that she was in the immigration center at the time that everything happened."
According to 11Alive, Sorenson and her husband, Brian, were active in the Canton community, and Brian was known as the retired Captain of the Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services.
What caused the Nepal flood?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, what was first thought to be an earthquake was actually the slope failure of a massive glacier in the Himalayan Mountains that created energy equivalent to an M5.2 earthquake. The rumble caused debris and water to flood as far as 62 miles south. A second seismic event was recorded three hours later at a force of an M4.2 earthquake, but officials are still unsure whether the initial slope failure caused the second event as a landslide, or if it was also caused by glacial collapse.
"A glacial collapse is where a portion of a glacier breaks off, and the debris rapidly moves downslope. The glacial debris contained water and ice that rapidly melted, picking up more material and water as it flowed downslope in the existing stream and river channels, creating a fast-moving, far-traveled landslide and flood laden with boulders and other rubble," according to USGS.
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia mom among Americans missing in Nepal following deadly floods
