‘Lots of my friends are missing’: fears and prayers as Australia’s Nepali diaspora desperately seek answers after flood

As the community scrambles to check on loved ones, some hear from family members who fled to safety, while others pray for good news Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast When Suman Shrestha opened his phone at work and saw vision of a thick, muddy wall of flood water smashing into towns in his country of birth, he almost did not believe what he was seeing. “It was awful – I called my family to see if this was really happening and to see if the news reports were right,” says Shrestha, who moved to Australia from Kathmandu in 2017. It wasn’t long until the truth hit home. Like many of the 210,000 people who were born in Nepal but now call Australia home, Shrestha has spent the last 24 hours scrambling to find out if his loved ones are safe. “I can see that lots of my friends are missing,” says Shrestha, who now lives in Gosford. “We can’t get in contact with them because the communications have been cut off in that area.” Nearly 1,300 people are missing and at least 389 have been killed in Nepal and Tibet by the flood, which was caused by an avalanche of ice and rock on Wednesday. At least