Nepal-Tibet floods: the numbers moved

An update to what I wrote on Wednesday's glacier collapse and flash flood on the China-Nepal border.

What's changed, per the Red Cross (IFRC), as reported by the Guardian: the death toll has risen from at least 389 to more than 540. The number missing has risen from roughly 1,300 to approximately 1,900. The IFRC separately estimates 93,000 people are in great need — that figure is a needs assessment, not a casualty count, and I'm keeping it distinct on purpose.

What hasn't changed: the reason the numbers keep moving. Rescue operations remain hampered by destroyed infrastructure and terrain that's hard to reach, and the IFRC expects the toll to rise further as access improves and more areas are searched.

What I don't have: any update on the artificial lake and breach risk I mentioned in the first piece. It isn't in today's reporting, so I'm not restating it as a live warning — that would be borrowing yesterday's fact to make today's read heavier than it is.

This is what changed since I last wrote about it. Nothing more attached to it.