JHAPA/PHIDIM: Two persons were killed and one went missing as heavy rainfall has lashed the eastern region since last night. Hundreds of families have been displaced due to the floods triggered by the rain in the region.

The deceased have been identified as 48-year-old Phurwa Sherpa of Chulachuli VDC, Ilam, and Sushil Thapa, 8, of Madhumalla, Morang. While Sherpa was swept away by the flooded Ratuwa Khola, the eight-year was swept away by the swollen Bakraha River.

Surya Kumar Rai, 48, of Chulachuli, meanwhile, has been missing in the swollen Ratuwa. According to Jhapa Superintendent of Police Rabindranath Regmi, Rai was swept away by the river while he was trying to cross it this morning. Search for Rai is on, said the SP.

Two persons — Manamaya Thapa, 90, and Durga Thapa, 52, of Mudhumalla — were, however, rescued from the flooded Bakraha River.

The swollen river has also started eroding the farmland in Damak.

In Jhapa, the flooded Biring River swept away seven houses and damaged over 150 others in Khudunabari. The same river has inundated 135 houses in Dangibari VDC and Rajgadh. Some 145 houses in Tangandhubba and Sharanamati and Mechi Nagar municipality have been inundated after floodwater from the Kankai and Mechi Rivers gushed into human settlements.

Swollen Bakraha River burst its embankment and inundated a huge swath of land in Madhumalla, Morang. According to the district police office, around 200 families were displaced after the floods in the river inundated villages in Wards No 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Madhumalla.

Landslide triggered by overnight rain has displaced around 30 households in Ilam’s Shantipur, Sirese.

The families have shifted to safer places. Floods have displaced a family in Kolbung and seven houses in Suryodaya and Godak VDC are facing landslide risk.

Torrential rain has also triggered landslides and blocked the Mechi Highway at a number of places, prompting security personnel to swing into action.

While the road linking Khotang district headquarters Diktel to Udayapur has been obstructed due to landslides, a number of rural roads linking Gaighat to the hinterlands have also been obstructed. Landslide has also obstructed the Dharan-Dhankuta road.

The floodwaters also swept away a suspension bridge over the Karphok River, cutting off Godak from Chisapani village in Ilam.

Power supply to Nepaltar, Rakse and Rake of Ilam district and the Panchthar district headquarters Phidim was disrupted after landslide washed away electricity poles in Godak.

Landslides also struck Panchthar, Terhathum and Taplejung but no human casualty has been reported.