Village Wiped Out by Floods but One House Stands: The Story Behind Nepal's 'Miracle Green House' That Amazed the World

Family Trapped on Rooftop for an Hour Amid Raging Waters
On Google Maps: The "Flood Proof House"

Amid the catastrophic floods in Nepal that left thousands dead or missing, a green house that withstood the disaster while surrounding buildings were wiped away is drawing global attention. Despite most of its first and second floors being destroyed by the raging waters, the building's frame and third floor withstood the onslaught, allowing the family inside to escape safely.

This house, which did not collapse during the flood, is called the "Miraculous Green House" or "Viral House" locally because of its turquoise exterior walls. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

On September 2 (local time), international media outlets including the New York Times (NYT) and People highlighted a green house that survived the devastating Nepal floods. The house in question is the Piakurel family's three-story home in Dhunge Bazaar, located in the Nuwakot region of Nepal. Owing to its turquoise exterior walls, locals have dubbed it the "Miracle Green House" or "Viral House."

The disaster was triggered on August 26 when a massive glacier collapse struck the Himalayan region between Nepal and Tibet, sending huge volumes of water, ice, rocks, and debris surging down the valley. The torrents swept through villages along the Trishuli River, destroying homes, shops, and bridges in their path. In the Nuwakot region alone, more than 1,200 houses were completely destroyed, with over 1,000 others sustaining partial damage.

The torrents tore through the first and second floors, but the house did not fall

Yet, in the middle of the ruins, the Piakurel family's green house remained standing. Footage from the time shows the family watching from the third-floor balcony as muddy water, rocks, and various debris fiercely battered the house from all sides. As waters continued to rise, the family eventually moved to the rooftop. The video spread rapidly across social media platforms.

Homeowner Chhatr Bahadur Piakurel (age 67) had just returned after sending his grandson off on the school bus when the flood struck. The Piakurel family was forced to spend over an hour on the rooftop, watching as the torrents inundated their village. Piakurel later recalled that, at the time, he was most concerned not only for their own survival but also for his grandson’s safety. Fortunately, the grandson's school was located on higher ground and was spared, and the family was reunited the next day.

Once the waters began to recede, local residents joined the rescue efforts. They connected metal pipes to create a makeshift ladder, allowing the family to escape the house. The post-flood scene was even more astonishing: most of the walls and interior fixtures on the first and second floors had vanished, exposing the bare concrete columns, but the entire building had not collapsed.

Remarkably, the washing machine and laundry that had been on the third-floor balcony were still there, while the rooftop water tank, solar water heater, the small shrine used by the family, and potted plants remained relatively undamaged. This starkly contrasted with the surrounding area, which was buried in mud and debris.

Lone survivor in the ruins becomes an unexpected tourist attraction

There is significant interest in why the house managed to survive alone. According to Piakurel, he built the first floor in 1995 when he started running a grocery store. As his business grew, he gradually added the upper floors. He explained that when constructing the house, he drove the support columns deep into the underground bedrock, which may be one reason the building withstood the torrents.

Another plausible explanation has emerged: the ridge-shaped terrain jutting out between the house and the water may have acted as a kind of breakwater, partially absorbing the full force of the currents that otherwise would have hit the house head-on. As images of this lone house amid the ruins spread, it has become an unexpected tourist attraction. Once sections of the roads were repaired, locals and visitors began climbing the nearby ridge to take photos, and the location was even marked on Google Maps as "Flood Proof House." The Piakurel family's survival is being celebrated as a rare beacon of hope amidst the growing scale of the disaster in Nepal.

Meanwhile, according to statistics compiled on September 3 by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the flood has left 1,252 bodies recovered and 4,216 people either missing or unaccounted for in Nepal. A total of 11,993 people have been rescued so far. In the affected regions, about 900 hydropower plant workers are still out of contact, and rescue efforts continue. Nepalese authorities expect that, considering the homes fully destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by the floods, about 20,000 houses will need to be rebuilt.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.