THE monsoon struck with unprecedented force. People spoke of ''the mother of all monsoons'' - the calamity said to come once every 100 years.
The water rose at lightning speed - 26 metres in 24 hours in one place - bridges were ripped to shreds and roads disappeared. The destruction was enormous.
Colonel Mike Kefford, the defence attache at the British Embassy, said on his return from assessing the damage: ''This disaster has put back the development of Nepal by 10 years.'' By July 20, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala declared a major disaster and appealed for aid. The British Overseas Development Authority (ODA) promised help and the British Army's Queen's Gurkha Engineers based in Hong Kong were placed on standby.
Two days later, a reconnaissance party flew to Kathmandu and inspections by air and ground revealed the vital Prithvi Highway, the link between the capital and Nepal's second city, Pokora, and the main supply route to India, was breached in a number of places and four bridges were down.
Experienced officers were shocked at the scenes of destruction.
''When we came to Kathmandu there was no apparent sign of any problems,'' one said. ''It was only when we hit the road going west out of Kathmandu towards Pokora . . . it suddenly went quite quiet [in the jeep] - the devastation was amazing.