Assam Floods: This House Saved 61 From Nepali Khuti As Deluge Swept Their Village Away
Assam Floods: This House Saved 61 From Nepali Khuti As Deluge Swept Their Village Away Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: August 03, 2026, 19:36
Assam Floods: This House Saved 61 From Nepali Khuti As Deluge Swept Their Village Away Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: August 03, 2026, 19:36 IST "We have been pushed back 20 years. I don't know how I'll repay the ₹12 lakh loan I took to build this house," says Laxmi Sharma Rapid Read As the floodwaters swallowed the village, terrified neighbours instinctively ran towards the only structure they believed could withstand the deluge. As News18 called Laxmi Sharma, she was preparing a modest meal at the relief camp where she and dozens of other flood-affected families from Nepali Khuti near Bihubar in Assam’s Sivasagar district have been living since July 20. The devastating floods that tore through the village spared little, sweeping away homes, livestock and livelihoods built over decades. Every morning, the 42-year-old walks back to her village to clean the thick layers of mud and silt deposited by the receding waters inside her home. By evening, she returns to the camp because electricity and drinking water have still not been restored. Long before the floods arrived, Laxmi’s freshly painted blue house stood apart from the rest of the village. In a hamlet of nearly forty homes, it was the only concrete house. Built on a raised platform after years of relentless hard work and sacrifice, it represented the dreams of a family that had slowly climbed out of poverty. Nobody imagined that the same house would one day become the only refuge for an entire village.
On the afternoon the flood struck, Laxmi was in the kitchen cooking rice and lentils when neighbours called her outside to witness the rapidly rising waters entering the village. She decided to finish cooking first, believing there was still time. Within minutes, however, the water began rushing into their home. Panic spread as houses around them disappeared beneath the torrent. “This was the first time we had ever experienced a flood," she recalls. “I somehow managed to move a few belongings to the terrace, but by then water had already entered the rooms. I am only five feet tall, and the water had reached my neck by the time I climbed onto the terrace." As the floodwaters swallowed the village, terrified neighbours instinctively ran towards the only structure they believed could withstand the deluge. By evening, sixty-one men, women and children had taken shelter on the terrace of Laxmi’s house. “At one point, I thought we would all drown," she says. “The force of the current was so strong that it was literally rocking our newly built house. Four families who lived farther away could not even reach us." Through the night, they remained huddled together on the terrace, surrounded by endless floodwaters. “The village that once echoed with the sounds of cattle and children looked like an ocean. It was completely dark. The roar of the water was terrifying, and none of us knew whether we would survive till morning." Even today, the memory of that night leaves Laxmi shaken.
The BriefWire