In Nepal's flood-ravaged towns, excavators drown out the sound of grief

In Bidur, Nepal, the sound of people crying is drowned out by the constant hum of excavators.

This town sits more than 45 kilometres from the site of Wednesday's glacial collapse, which triggered mudslides and flash flooding, killing nearly 700 people.

More than 3,000 remain missing, including 42 Australians in Nepal. Chinese state media on Sunday reported six Australians were also missing on the Tibetan side of the border.

In Bidur, the torrent of water was so powerful that it destroyed the winding road that once ran through it, as well as most of the buildings lining it.

Sticking out of the mud are the ruins of what were once homes and businesses; now nothing more than concrete shells covered in brown sludge.

Menuka Manandhar struggles down a ladder leaning against one of the buildings after searching the ruins of her home.

The layers of mud surrounding it are so thick, two men have to help lift her back to safety.

When she sits down, she has trouble getting any words out.

"There's nothing left," she tells SBS News.

"All my things were inside the house. I could only take some important documents.

"I was here when the disaster struck, we escaped it by only a minute. We had barely crossed the road when it hit."

Other families emerge with a few small bags of belongings they were able to salvage from the higher floors of their buildings.

Most say they were lucky enough to escape with their lives.

"Five people in our family were downstairs at the time of the flood," Ramji Lamsa, who was sheltering in a nearby school, said.

"I had a shop, a storehouse, and some vehicles. Everything was swept away. We don't have any resources to rebuild. We don’t know how the authorities are going to handle this."

Everything north of Bidur remains cut off by land. Nepali rescue crews are sending helicopters back and forth throughout the day, bringing back the injured and the dead they find on the other side.

'Nobody knew what was happening'

Gaurav Thapa Magar was working in his bank at Timure, just three kilometres from the Tibetan border, when everything around him started shaking.

"Nobody knew what was happening," he said.

"In that moment, I just ran with everyone. And after I had taken five or six steps, I saw a big wall of water, almost three of four storeys of water, coming right after me.

"I felt like I was dead, to be honest. I was panicking, everyone was panicking, but I was really thinking 'I’m gone, I have to run, I’m gone'.

"Within 20 or 25 seconds, everything was down. Everything was gone."

Gaurav spent most of the day waiting at the top of the hill he had climbed to, looking down on the wasteland that once was his town, until a helicopter arrived and evacuated him.

"After the smoke cleared, we could see the scene," he said.

"When I looked down the whole village were swept away. And people were saying: 'There’s a body, there's a body'.

"There were so many people crying, who had lost their families. And there were so many people who were badly injured."

Sydney woman found alive

In a glimmer of hope, unaccounted-for Sydney woman, Cara Severino, 26, made contact with her parents on Saturday before she was safely located by Australian consular officials.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was "a rare piece of positive news amid a disaster that has brought immense loss and uncertainty".

In a statement, Severino said she felt "blessed" to be Australian.

"I feel for the families of those still missing — I know how much my family and friends went through," she said.

"Blessed to be from Australia and have the embassy and Australian government giving so much support."

Nepal has called for specialised foreign assistance, and its finance minister said it would need up to US$5 billion ($7 billion) to rebuild.

Australia has announced a $5 million assistance package.

Unrecognisable bodies to be buried

Search and rescue operations resumed on Sunday afternoon after being temporarily halted because of rain and fog, a police officer in hard-hit Rasuwa district said.

"Helicopters are flying and the operation resumed following some improvement in weather," he said, on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

On Friday, authorities also suspended rescue work when a lake, formed across the Nepal-China border after the flood, began overflowing into Nepal's Lhende Khola and Trishuli rivers.

By Saturday, the risk had eased and parts of the lake bed were visible, Chinese authorities and state broadcaster CCTV said. Satellite images suggested water was slowly draining from the lake, gradually reducing its size, CCTV reported.

The lake is one of two upstream of the flood zone that Nepal is monitoring. Flood risks will persist until both have fully drained, an official warned.

Three days after the disaster, authorities said some bodies being recovered had decomposed beyond recognition. They would be buried after legal formalities because of health risks and a fear of disease outbreaks.

"DNA samples will be collected, and the bodies will be buried in an open space," the Chitwan district administration said in a notice.

Anxious wait for Australian families

Several family members and friends of the missing Australians have flown to Nepal to search for answers, while others are waiting helplessly in Australia for any word.

Jen Nai has been sharing photographs of her brother-in-law Karan Bhardwaj far and wide since the tragedy unfolded on Wednesday, praying for a miracle.

The Australian Defence Force member lost all contact with his family while travelling with friends Arpan Mithalal Kothari and Bhavin Raval.

The mates were near the Nepal-Tibet border with Kailash Journeys as part of a tour group when the flooding hit.

"Our family is desperately waiting for news," Nai told Australian Associated Press.

NSW mother-of-two Reshma Patel was also making a pilgrimage with the Isha Foundation when the floods hit.

Her last known location was an immigration office along the border, captured in viral footage.

"She was inside the big building, which you can see in all the videos that had been hit hard by the floods," family friend Chin Valsan told AAP.

Also on the tour was outdoor education leader Michael Keats, who has also been identified as missing, along with mother and wife Sumi Adhikari.

Nava Pandey has steadfastly sought information about Adhikari's whereabouts since flying to Nepal in the wake of the disaster.

Speaking with AAP on Saturday, he still had no clear or official information about his wife or the other members of her group.

"Based on the CCTV footage that has emerged and their last known location in the Gyirong area, our most urgent request is for an immediate and thorough search operation in that location," Pandey said.

"Families should not be left without answers during such a critical time. Every hour matters."

Among the missing are 15 Australians who were on a trek with US travel company Himalayan Glacier Adventures.

Two Australian boys, aged 11 and 14, are also part of the tour group.

Sydney doctor Manoj Dharmaratnam was invited to join the pilgrimage but chose not to.

He prescribed several of his close friends altitude medication and conducted injury assessments before they left Australia.

Included in the Himalayan Glacier group was a Sydney couple with two sons in their 20s and both studying medicine.

"They're such pioneers in the community of ours. They're very well known and well respected, so it's such a shame," Dharmaratnam said.

— With additional reporting by Reuters and Australian Associated Press.

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