A Georgia family is waiting for word on their mother after catastrophic flash flooding struck the Nepal-Tibet border region, where she had been traveling on a spiritual pilgrimage. Mary Sorensen, who lives north of Atlanta, had traveled to the area to complete a journey to Mount Kailash, according to her son, Riley Wildeman.
Wildeman told ABC News that his mother was part of a group trip. "She was with a group called Isha that she does yoga with and she prays with and she meditates with," he said. He described her as someone with an adventurous and spiritual approach to life.
Sorensen had completed her pilgrimage to the mountain and was making her way back to Atlanta when contact was lost. Wildeman said his mother sent the family a message Tuesday morning saying she was heading down the mountain. The flooding struck the following day. "The last thing that she sent to us was Tuesday morning, and she was on her way down the mountain," he said.
Her planned route home included passing through an immigration center, taking a bus to Kathmandu, and then flying back to Atlanta. Wildeman said their last text exchange before she disappeared ended on a warm note. "She ended that text by saying, 'I'm so grateful that you guys are my family,'" he recalled.
Wildeman, a public school teacher, said he learned of the flooding when his father called him at work after the trip organizer contacted the family. At first, details were scarce. "There was really very little about where they were, about where the flood had hit, about how severe the flood was," he said. "And then all the news coverage and all the videos and all of the social media popped up, and so that's how we kind of understood the severity of the situation."
The flooding struck Nepal's northern Rasuwa district along the border with Tibet and was reportedly triggered by a landslide about 12 miles northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border post, according to Nepali officials. Search-and-rescue operations are ongoing. At least 955 people have died and more than 4,400 remain missing as of Monday, according to the latest updates from Nepali and Chinese officials. The U.S. State Department said at least 85 Americans are among the missing as of Sunday.
Wildeman said his family has reached out to the State Department as well as government agencies in Nepal and China. He said he has not given up hope. "I have so much hope that she's there somewhere," he said.
