Georgia mother on trip of a lifetime’s haunting final text to family from Nepal immigration center seen being swept away by monster floods
The family of Mary Sorensen, a 60-year-old mother from Canton, Georgia, has shared her final text message before she went missing in devastating floods that struck Nepal on 26 August 2026. Sorensen was inside an immigration office near the Rasuwagadhi border crossing with China, an area later shown on video being destroyed by a huge surge of floodwater, when she sent a loving farewell message to her family. She is among roughly 4,000 people still unaccounted for as Nepal's death toll has passed 1,000, and her family say they continue to hope for a miracle despite fears expressed by her travel group that the missing may not have survived.
Sorensen had reportedly been on the "trip of a lifetime" with the Isha Sacred Walks travel group and was due to fly home the same day the disaster struck. The floods were triggered by the collapse of a glacier near the Nepal-China border, initially mistaken for a magnitude 5.2 earthquake by the US Geological Survey, which unleashed a catastrophic debris flow that destroyed roads, bridges and power infrastructure. Among those unaccounted for are 592 foreigners, including trekkers and pilgrims, while authorities have begun burying unidentified bodies after taking DNA samples so families can later identify them.
In short
- Georgia mother Mary Sorensen missing after Nepal glacier-triggered floods
- Sent final loving text before immigration centre was destroyed
- Nepal death toll tops 1,000; around 4,000 people still missing
Explained simply
Nepal is a mountainous country between India and China, where melting glaciers and steep valleys can make communities vulnerable to sudden floods and landslides. The Rasuwagadhi crossing is a remote border point with China, and roads and other links in the region are limited.
Mary Sorensen, from Georgia in the United States, was travelling with the Isha Sacred Walks group and was due to return home on the day the floods struck. The group included foreign visitors, among them trekkers and pilgrims, who may be difficult to locate when roads, bridges and power links are damaged.
When people are missing after a disaster, families can wait days or longer for reliable information. Nepalese authorities have taken DNA samples from unidentified bodies to help establish who they are and inform relatives.