A school principal in Nepal's Trishuli Valley is being hailed as a hero after ordering the immediate evacuation of at least 900 students just minutes before catastrophic floodwaters completely destroyed their school building. Rajendra Dawadi, principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in the Nuwakot district, made the split-second decision on the morning of the disaster after a series of urgent warnings reached him in quick succession — and his swift action is widely credited with saving hundreds of young lives.
A chain of warnings and a split-second decision
Dawadi was inside a classroom when a colleague burst in with word that floodwaters were tearing through the Trishuli Valley, destroying homes, bridges and entire villages in their path. Moments later, a teacher received a warning by phone, and then a parent arrived at the school to collect their child. With the full scale of the danger still unconfirmed, Rajendra Dawadi chose not to wait.
"I immediately decided to stop school and get the children out," he said.
He rang the school bell and directed every student and staff member to move to higher ground. As the group climbed a nearby hill, the floodwaters surged behind them. Dawadi also called bus drivers carrying students toward the school and ordered them to turn back. One bus had already arrived — he told that driver to reverse immediately. The bus crossed a newly constructed bridge and cleared it just in time; moments later, the old bridge beside it collapsed into the torrent.
From the safety of the hillside, Dawadi watched the school — a place where he had once been a student himself, and where he had spent years as a teacher — disappear under a wall of water, mud, boulders and debris. Two staff members were unable to make it to safety and remain missing.
The scale of the disaster in Nepal and Tibet
The flash floods, unleashed after a glacial collapse in the Himalayas, proved catastrophic across a vast area. More than 950 people were killed across Nepal and Tibet combined, while over 4,400 remain missing. The destruction swept through northern Nepal with devastating speed, leaving entire communities without homes, infrastructure or basic services.
The impact on education has been severe. At least 69 schools in northern Nepal were destroyed by the floods, putting the schooling of nearly 19,000 students at risk, according to aid group Save the Children. Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, which had an enrolment of 1,643 students, was among those lost entirely. At least 900 of those students were on campus the morning of the disaster, with others still making their way to school when the waters struck.
Parents' tears and a reluctant hero
When Dawadi returned to the site of the destroyed school in the days that followed, he was met with an outpouring of emotion from the families of students he had saved.
"Their parents hugged me, they cried with me," he said. "They were emotional."
Fourteen-year-old student Suvina Tamang said the building was swept away shortly after the students had been evacuated. "I will thank him when I see him," she said, "for saving my life."
Despite the widespread recognition of his actions, Dawadi is reluctant to accept the label of hero. For him, getting the children out was simply his responsibility. The loss of the school, however, has hit him deeply on a personal level.
"I have no words. I got education from that school. And I gave education at that school," he said.
What comes next for students and the community
With so many schools destroyed, Dawadi says his students will need psychological counselling before anything else. After that, he is determined that lessons must resume — even if the school has to operate without a permanent building. Efforts to deliver aid to flood-affected regions of Nepal are expected to continue for months as the country begins the long process of recovery.
The evacuation of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School stands as one of the most striking acts of foresight to emerge from the disaster — a reminder of how quickly decisive leadership can make the difference between life and death. It also draws a broader parallel to the importance of clear school evacuation procedures, wherever in the world a crisis may strike.
