{"id":874133,"date":"2026-08-30T18:28:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T18:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874133\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T18:28:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T18:28:30","slug":"nepal-floods-australian-cara-severinos-family-celebrate-miraculous-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874133\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepal floods: Australian Cara Severino\u2019s family celebrate \u2018miraculous gift\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 30, 2026 \u2014 2:09pm<\/p>\n

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The family of an Australian woman thought to have been missing in the Nepalese floods said her survival was a \u201cmiracle\u201d as they thanked the Australian government and Nepalese hiking partners who got her out safely.<\/p>\n

Cara Severino, 26, was listed as missing following the devastating floods that swept across regions in Nepal and China on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"AustralianAustralian Cara Severino was located by Australian consular officials after hiking in Nepal. Facebook<\/p>\n

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Sunday confirmed there were 42 Australians missing in floods that have left thousands dead and unaccounted for. That number includes six Australians who Chinese state authorities said were missing on the Chinese side of the border, among a total of 261 foreign nationals who remain unaccounted for.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Sunday: \u201cThis is an extremely anxious time for their families and loved ones. They are understandably desperate for news, and our thoughts are very much with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The death toll in Nepal and Tibet was updated to 750 on Sunday and 3044 people are missing. The Red Cross estimates that more than 90,000 people are likely to have been affected by the disaster. The Australian government will deploy a further $3 million in humanitarian assistance. The Royal Australian Air Force will transport supplies from Queensland later this week.<\/p>\n

\"NepaleseNepalese flood survivor Cara Severino with Australian consular officials in Nepal.Senator Penny Wong on X<\/p>\n

Severino contacted her parents on Friday after two days hiking through the devastated area. She was located by consular officials in Nepal on Saturday<\/a>, who drove out from Kathmandu to meet her.<\/p>\n

Severino\u2019s parents, Debbie and Frank, said they were \u201cbeyond relieved and elated\u201d that she had been found safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t wait to hold her in our loving arms,\u201d they said in a statement distributed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing Cara\u2019s name appear on my MessageBank, hearing her voice and now seeing her photo and speaking with her has been the most miraculous gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair thanked their church, Jesus, family and friends who had prayed for the \u201cmiracle\u201d, as well as the Australian consular response teams and local teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so grateful to her Nepalese hiking partners who saw her through a harrowing several days of hiking in very difficult terrain \u2013 so thankful that they have all made it to safety,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scale of this tragedy is staggering, and amidst our personal joy we continue to stand in prayer with the many families here in Australia, in Nepal and around the world who have lost loved ones or are still waiting to hear from them \u2026 We know that the waiting is horrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

The pair encouraged people to donate via the Emergency Action Alliance webpage.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cara Severino in a statement on Saturday said she felt \u201cblessed\u201d to be Australian and to have support from the embassy and the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for the crew we formed on that first day when we entered the national park on the tractor. Sudha, Lucas, Samir and Saugat. It\u2019s thanks to these amazing people I got out safely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel for the families of those still missing. I know how much my family and friends went through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, relatives of one missing Australian family are desperately hoping to find their loved ones among the survivors of the disaster. More than 7000 people have been rescued in Nepal so far.<\/p>\n

Speaking to this masthead in Nepal, one of the four brothers of Sreedharan Iyer, 53, said they were yet to get a \u201cconcrete\u201d lead on what had happened to his brother from authorities carrying out search and rescue operations.<\/p>\n

Iyer, from the Sydney suburb of Cherrybrook, his wife, Lakshmi, 49, and the couple\u2019s two sons \u2013 Rudhra, 20, and Rishab, 23 \u2013 were travelling with a group of about 15 Australian friends to the Hindu sacred site of Mount Kailash.<\/p>\n

\"RelativesRelatives arrive in a remote area to search for the missing Iyer family.KATE GERAGHTY<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were on their way towards the border check post [to get to Mount Kalaish],\u201d Ganesh Gopalakrishnan said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe missing Sydney family in Nepal: (From L-R) Rudhra Iyer, 20, the father Sreedharan Iyer, 53, his wife Lakshmi, 49, and Rishab, 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been they were face to face with the floods coming at them, and we just hope they managed to park their cars and escape to an elevated area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ganesh was at work in Bangalore when he first learned the shocking news that a disaster was unfolding exactly where his family members were travelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the itinerary with us, so we had to start from scratch, starting with the tour operator,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom there, we found the itinerary and the place they spent that last night and morning, and then when they would have checked out. That was 8.45am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lakshmi runs the Leap Pad Early Learning Centre in Riverstone, the brothers said. Sreedharan is a mortgage broker. Their eldest son, Rishab, is a doctor and Rudhra is studying medicine at a university in Sydney.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is [Sreedharan\u2019s] dream to get his children to become doctors,\u201d Ganesh said. \u201cHe\u2019s been very successful in getting two fine boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday said his \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d were with the families of those missing and the people of Nepal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tragedy in Nepal [has] resulted in such devastation, loss of life, potentially including so many Australians still among the missing,\u201d he said at the Queensland Labor state conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat something so devastating could occur in such an awesome and inspiring corner of the world during times of pilgrimage and holiday makes the blow seem even more heartbreaking. Australia is responding with significant consular rescue and humanitarian aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was concerned about the Australians still missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere remain grave concerns for the other Australians who are still unaccounted for, given the tremendous scale of the flooding and its impact,\u201d Wong said on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Most of the Australians still missing were pilgrims on a journey to one of the most spiritually significant locations in the world. The list of Australians missing can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Australia has announced a $5 million assistance package for affected communities.<\/p>\n

Nepal\u2019s government has said it does not need foreign help for general rescue, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said the country needed assistance in such areas as tunnel rescue, DNA testing, refrigerated storage for bodies and forensic identification of decomposed remains.<\/p>\n

He said Indian and Chinese experts were on the ground helping efforts to open tunnels. Rescue efforts in Nepal are focused on extracting hundreds of people believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower plants.<\/p>\n

Nepal has mobilised more than 18,500 military and police personnel on rescue missions. Opening the tunnel entrance at the Trishuli 3 A Hydropower Project located in Rasuwa is a particular focus.<\/p>\n

China has mobilised more than 2100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan ($32.7 million) to support relief efforts.<\/p>\n

\"ChineseChinese tunnelling experts have arrived in Nepal to assist with the rescue operations.Kate Geraghty<\/p>\n

It is also providing emergency cash aid, disaster relief supplies, satellite and hydrological data and tunnel rescue experts to Nepal, CCTV said.<\/p>\n

China used heavy-lift drones as helicopters began airdropping equipment and supplies to rescuers near the border crossing. Soldiers have used life-detection equipment, drones and a navigation system to continue searching for the missing.<\/p>\n

With Reuters\/Bloomberg <\/p>\n

Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade\u2019s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).<\/p>\n

Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts<\/a> on email or turn on notifications in the app.<\/p>\n

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\"AmberAmber Schultz<\/a> is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"ZachZach Hope<\/a> is South-East Asia correspondent. He is a former reporter at the Brisbane Times.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 30, 2026 \u2014 2:09pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-874133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}