Nepal recovering from impact of flash floods 💻: Learn about the news in English 🗞️

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From BBC Learning English. This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. In this programme: Devastating flash floods on the Nepal Tibet border with a death toll of more than 1000 people. Hello, I'm Phil.

And I'm Georgie. In this programme, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it. You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a

worksheet on our website, BBC Learning English dot com So let's hear more about this story. More than 1000 people have been confirmed dead after last week's flash floods on the border of Nepal and Tibet. According to Nepal's disaster

agency. Almost 4000 people are still missing. Rescuers are trying to reach hundreds of workers who've been trapped in a large network of tunnels at hydropower sites. Nepalese Prime Minister Birendra Shah said on Monday that 279 people had been

rescued from the sites. A key cause of the deadly floods is thought to be a glacier collapse in the Himalayas. A glacier is a large area of dense ice. Let's have our first headline. This one is from Sky

News, an international news organization. Seven days after the disaster caused by the flash floods in Nepal, it's 'clearly not over'. That headline, again from Sky News and international news organization, seven days after the disaster So this headline quotes

Sky news reporter John Sparks, who says that seven days after the floods in Nepal, it's 'clearly not over'. Let's look at the meaning of over. In this phrase, Phil, over has lots of meanings, doesn't it? Yes, over often

is used as a preposition. For example, the man walked over the bridge. Here, though, the meaning is similar to finished. If something is not over, it's not finished. Yes. So a week has passed since the floods in Nepal,

but the consequences of the floods, the destruction and the loss of life, are not over. They haven't ended yet. Rescuers are still searching for survivors, and many people need help. Now, of course, this is a really serious context

to use over with this meaning, but you can use it in a variety of situations. Yeah. So for example it's September now, so summer in the UK is over. People also often use it to describe relationships which have

ended. It's over between them. A useful expression with the word over is over and done with. This means something is finished and no longer needs your attention. It has a sense of relief. For example, I'm so glad exam

season is over and done with. Yes, it's also something we say when we want to stop procrastinating. For example, I know you don't want to clean your bedroom, but come on, let's just get it over and done with.

We had not over: not finished. For example. Firefighters are working to put out the wildfires. But it's not over yet. The fires are still spreading. This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. Today

we're talking about what's happened since the flash floods in Nepal last week. Flash floods and landslides on the Nepal-Tibet border have caused widespread damage, leaving more than 1000 dead and thousands more missing. But what caused it? Initially, many

believed that an earthquake had caused a landslide, which then caused the devastating floods. However, the US Geological Survey later confirmed that the disaster was caused by a glacial collapse when a glacier or part of a glacier breaks up.

China has warned that there's a newly formed lake near the Nepal-Tibet border, which could cause a second flooding. But experts have told the BBC that it's possible that the lake could drain out naturally over time. Nepalese Prime Minister

Belinda Shah said this incident indicates that the risks we face in the Himalayan region are increasing alongside climate change. Let's have another headline. This is from The Independent, a British news site. What triggered Nepal flash floods. And why

are experts worried a second flood is 'imminent'? And that headline, again from The Independent, a British news site. So this article is about the causes of the flash floods in Nepal and asks whether a second flood is imminent.

Imminent means likely to happen soon. But we're looking at the verb trigger here. What can you tell us about it, Georgie? Yes. What triggered Nepal flash floods is the question in the headline. Here trigger means cause something to

start. It might help to think of the literal meaning of trigger. Yes, trigger as a noun is something you pull on a gun. You pull the trigger to set off the gun to shoot. And that's literal. Metaphorically, if

you trigger something, you cause it to start - a bit like pulling a trigger on a gun. So scientists now think that a glacial collapse triggered the flash floods in Nepal. The glacial collapse was the trigger. Another example

could be the financial scandal triggered the CEO's resignation. Yes, it caused him to resign. We've had trigger: cause. Something to start. For example, her offensive comment triggered an argument between the two colleagues. This is Learning English from the

News from BBC Learning English. We're talking about the aftermath of the flash floods in Nepal. As the search for survivors from last week's flash floods continues. The clean up operation has also begun. Locals are coming together to clean

up hospitals and schools, which are covered in mud and debris after the floods. Let's have our next headline. And this is from Bloomberg, an international news organization. Flood-hit Nepal unsure how to rebuild with landscape wiped out. And that

headline again: And that's from Bloomberg. This headline is about the aftermath of the floods and how Nepal will recover after so much destruction. It says the landscape is wiped out. What does this phrasal verb wipe out mean? Well,

if something is wiped out, it is completely destroyed or removed, often in quite a sudden way. If a landscape has been wiped out, it's been destroyed or changed. So many buildings, roads or parts of the land are not

there in the same form. Wipe something out is often used to talk about environmental issues. For example, deforestation has wiped out many species' habitats. It's also commonly used to talk about extinction when an entire species dies. For example,

most scientists believe an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Wipe out can be used more generally to talk about mass destruction, so we can also use it to talk about war, for example. We've had wipe out: completely destroy often

in a sudden way. For example, the hurricane wiped out many of the homes along the coast. That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News. If you want to learn more English to talk about climate and

the weather, we have a brand new series called How We Talk About Weather, and you can find the link for it in the notes under this programme. Goodbye for now. Bye.