Australian woman makes contact with family after Nepal flood, 38 Australians still missing

In short:

An Australian woman feared missing has got in touch with her family after a flood swept through Nepal on Wednesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working with local authorities to locate her and provide consular assistance.

What's next?

The department is continuing to engage with local authorities while 38 Australians remain missing.

An Australian woman feared missing in the flooding disaster in Nepal has made contact with her family.

Cara Severino, 26, made contact with her parents, Debbie and Frank Servino, this morning from Gosainkunda, where she has been able to reach, along with other hikers in Nepal.

Her parents said she had become stranded at Kyangjia Gompa, which was not in the direct path of the floodwaters.

"We understand that they are attempting to reach Kathmandu on foot," they told the ABC.

"We eagerly await more information about her safe return.

"We praise God that she has been able to make this brief contact with us.

" Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families awaiting news. "

In a statement, DFAT said it was working with local authorities to locate the woman who was last reported in a remote area several days' hike from Kathmandu.

Thanks to Ms Severino making contact with her family, there were now 38 Australians yet to be accounted for, the department said.

More than 1,400 people in total remain missing.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said some of the still-missing Australians were part of separate pilgrimages and tour groups.

The department has received more than 400 calls in relation to the disaster.

A family of four from Sydney, including two young boys, remain missing.

Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, her husband, Chandrasekaran Muralitharan, 47, and their two sons, Ashwin, 14 and Aarush, 11, were travelling the region as part of the tour group when the flood hit.

A relative of the family told the ABC she last spoke to the north-west Sydney family on Wednesday morning.

Rescue operations in the valleyed Himalayan region have been complicated by the treacherous terrain.

Environmental anthropologist Austin Lord has spent years working in similar environments and told the ABC that recovery efforts would remain "brutal and slow".