AUTHORITIES in Nepal warned of possible fresh flooding today and urged residents in flood-affected districts to remain on high alert after water levels rose in the Bhotekoshi River.

Flood warning notices were sent to people’s phones early Sunday as rescue crews worked to clear a major highway connecting Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday’s catastrophic floods, which killed at least 800 people and left more than 3,000 missing in Nepal and Tibet.

In Dhading, one of the worst-hit regions in Nepal, some residents began returning to ruined homes to see what can be salvaged.

Residents sat in homes with walls washed away by the floods, shovelling sludge-like mud and rubble off balconies or window frames.

“Everything is finished. Nothing is left. Not even our home,” Sharmila Tamang, a Dhading resident who was trying to salvage items from her home, told reporters.

At a key power plant that was severely damaged by the floods, workers started inspecting the facilities Sunday to survey the destruction. The plant serves over 20,000 people across four districts.

Nepal’s disaster agency said Sunday the death toll had climbed to at least 788 with 2,502 missing, while Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on the Chinese side of the border.

The missing include hundreds of people from over a dozen countries who were in the region to work, visit the mountains or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.

On Sunday, Chinese media said 261 foreigners were still missing in Tibet.

Chinese authorities warned their Nepalese counterparts that there was increased water flow upstream which could lead to further flooding, according to Dharam Raj Uprety, chief executive of Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Wednesday’s flash floods started after a glacial collapse high in the Himalayan region. Scientists who studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it.

Nepal’s foreign minister called for a global response to climate change, saying Nepal was bearing a disproportionate share of its impact.

“Despite having only 0.1 per cent contribution to global emissions, people of Nepal have become major victims of climate change,” Shisir Khanal said on Saturday.

Scientists have said that as Earth’s temperature rises because of human activities such as burning oil, gas and coal, the chances of such disasters increase, especially in the Himalayan mountains, which are warming considerably faster than many other parts of the world.