Mike Searle
ON THE RECORD · 6 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“These floods happen all the time, but not at this scale.”
Mike Searle · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-27
Searle said the whole glacier collapsing in one go was very unusual, though such floods occur regularly.
“It's like putting a jack under the car, and then jacking it up.”
Mike Searle · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-27
Searle compared the slow tectonic uplift of Langtang Lirung to jacking up a car.
“The whole thing is combining to form these catastrophic disasters that we are now seeing at a regular basis.”
Mike Searle · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-27
Searle said tectonics and climate change are combining to produce catastrophic disasters on a regular basis.
“As the mountain is rising, the glacier gets steeper and steeper, and it's inevitable that parts of it fall off.”
Mike Searle · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-27
Searle explained that as the rising mountain steepens the glacier, parts of it inevitably fall off.
“The sheer wave of debris suggests there could have been a landslide first; the water built up, dammed the river, and then it burst in one huge great flood,”
Mike Searle · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-27
Mike Searle described to the BBC the likely sequence from landslide to sudden flood in the disaster area.
“two different processes - tectonics with the Himalayas uplifting, and then climate change with increasingly high temperatures and melting of glaciers.”
Mike Searle · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-27
Searle said Wednesday's event likely resulted from tectonic uplift combined with climate change and melting glaciers.