NASA MODIS Image of the Day: May 4, 2009 – Deadly Flooding in Namibia
Water levels on the Zambezi River in southern Africa remained high on April 14, 2009, when the MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the main image you see here.
The swollen river had destroyed crops and forced thousands of evacuations in Namibia’s Caprivi region as of April 12, reported the AFP news service.
Water, black in this false-color image, stretches across kilometers of land that had been dry in January before seasonal rains started. (You can see an image of this region on January 4, 2009 if you move your mouse over the main image.) Plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan. A single fire in southern Zambia is outlined in red. Clouds are light blue and white. The flooded Zambezi spills over into the Chobe River, the Bukalo Channel, and Lake Liambezi in the April 14 image. The Zambezi River floods during the annual rainy season, but in 2009, the floods were more extensive than normal. As of April 12, water levels were still rising, reported the AFP. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expected the floods to last through mid-May.
