China-Nepal floods: first research shows that no one could have outrun debris flow

AI Summary

Research led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences reveals that the flood debris flow at the China-Nepal border checkpoint near Gyirong Port reached speeds almost twice that of the world’s fastest sprinter. This study highlights the extreme danger and rapid onset of the disaster that struck the area last week.

Not even the world’s fastest sprinters could have outrun the devastating floodwaters that struck a border crossing between China and Nepal last week, according to one of the first peer-reviewed assessments of the disaster. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) calculated that the surface velocity of the debris flow was 19 metres per second (62 feet per second) when it struck the checkpoint at Gyirong Port in Tibet. This is almost twice Usain Bolt’s average speed when he set the...