Heavy Rains Flood Pakistan and Iran
Heavy Rains Flood Pakistan and Iran - MODIS (February 16, 2005) 1km | 500m | 250m



Heavy rain and snow hammered Pakistan in the first two weeks of February 2005, leaving more than 300 people dead as a result of floods and avalanches throughout the country. More than 200 of the deaths occurred in southwestern Pakistan, where a week of rain taxed river and irrigation systems. This false-color image, acquired by the Aqua MODIS instrument on February 11, 2005, shows streaks of blue-green floodwater all along the coast.

The most deadly floods swept through the region around the coastal city of Pasni when an irrigation dam burst on February 10, washing away several villages and flooding the city with water. Pale blue lines trace out the contours of the flood water on the following day. The city itself is covered with a small cloud, but further evidence of flooding can be seen in the Arabian Sea to the south. Bright blue clouds of sediment fill the waters where floods washed dirt and debris into the sea. To the west, the Dasht River is dramatically flooded, having expanded from a thin green line that was barely visible on the underlying February 6 to a sprawling blue wetland. On the right side of the image, the entire coastline around Ormara has been inundated with water.

In these false color images, sediment-filled water represented in blue, while deeper ocean water is black. The bare or sparsely vegetated land appears tinted in yellow and grey, and the clouds are light blue. The underlying false-color image is available in 1km, 500m, and 250m resolutions.

Credit: Jacques DescloitresMODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC


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