Gu Pan felt a bad premonition in her heart; this didn't seem like ordinary rising water because, from a distance, there was no land in sight, and there hadn't been a downpour. The sun was still shining brightly, which likely meant a rise in sea level.
Previously, they had thought they could hold out until after Mount Everest, before such a disaster struck, but such things always happened without following people's plans.
The team could only evacuate quickly to the highest nearby mountain; even if there were some boats, they first had to transfer supplies, do a certain amount of repackaging, and also make tough choices about which people and resources to leave behind.
By the time they reached the foot of the hill, they could only abandon their vehicles and go up the mountain on foot.