Nepal-Tibet floods: Scale of floods laid bare as towns lost to the fury of nature

The staggering scale of the flood catastrophe in Nepal is becoming clearer, with the death toll now above 600 and more than 3000 people missing with 41 of them from Australia.

Families are dropping everything to search for their missing loved ones, coming to terms with a heart-shattering reality as entire towns have been wiped out by the devastating floods.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nepal flood disaster claims 600 lives, 41 Australians missing

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The town of Trishuli, which just days ago was bustling with tourists on pilgrimage for a Hindu festival, is now empty and choked by mud and rubble.

“There were shops, poultry farms and government offices,” one local man said. “But they’re all gone.”

It’s the same story in nearby Devigat, lost to the fury of nature. For many, it’s beyond comprehension.

7NEWS spoke with one man whose elderly neighbour’s house disappeared in the deluge. He fears there’s no way she could have survived.

Two bridges that used to connect one town to the major highway have been destroyed. The sheer force of the water moved concrete and metal like it was nothing. Locals say 300 residents ran for their lives.

With a nation crying out for help, former Vice President Nanda Kishor Pun has shut down claims Nepal won’t accept international assistance, telling 7NEWS that foreign rescue teams are welcome and that global warming triggered the disaster.

“The world should take notice,” he said.

For Australian Bhavin Patel, life hasn’t been the same. Collapsing into the embrace of family, he’s flown halfway around the world to find his wife, Reshma. She was on a pilgrimage when the flood came through. He hasn’t heard from her since.

Bhavin was too overcome for words today.

Reshma is one of 41 Australians now missing. So too is Brisbane dad and Royal Australian Air Force member Karan Bhardwaj, who was travelling with mates and is now nowhere to be seen.

In Kathmandu, families are gathering at hospitals, holding out for answers, but many have lost hope.

“If we do not get him alive, we want to see his body,” one family member said.

“I’m hopeful that I at least get his body,” another said.

One mother broke down in tears after travelling from hospital to hospital in agony not knowing what happened to her son.

“Whoever finds out what happened, where he is, just let me know,” she said.

At the morgue in Kathmandu, crowds of people are gathering as ambulances arrive. Photos on the walls show the faces of those who’ve lost their lives.

Sydney man Pjay Srestha says many of the faces are family to Australia’s Nepali community, but the faces missing from the wall deepen the heartbreak.

“I had a friend, he reached out, and then I asked him, where is this individual last seen? And then he sent a map, and it was right in the middle of the flooding, and I just didn’t know what to say,” Srestha said.

They’re praying for a miracle. In one extraordinary scene, a home somehow stands up to the fury of the torrent while others around it vanish, as a family watches from the balcony - stranded, but alive.

Nature’s worst has brought out humanity’s best. Days after the disaster, rescue finally came for workers trapped at a hydropower station. Too weak to walk on their own, some were carried, others dragged to freedom.

The bulk of the rescue operation is being coordinated in Nuwakot, about two hours’ drive northwest of Kathmandu, which is essentially the entry point to the disaster zone. All other roads are cut off and only accessible by air.

Helicopters have been flying in and out all day from the Nepalese army barracks, where survivors are being taken ? but sadly, more often than not, the deceased.

A specialist DFAT team from Australia has departed for Nepal to help with the rescue and recovery. But when they arrive, it will be a race against the clock to locate survivors, many of whom have potentially been buried under mud for days.