NASA releases before and after images of Kerala floods, shows the scale of destruction

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released the before and after images showing the scale of devastation due to the century’s worst flood in Kerala. The US space agency has rendered the images in false-colour to depict flood waters in dark-blue and the vegetation in bright green.

While the first image taken from the Landsat 8 satellite’s operational land imager on February 6 shows the area before the floods, the second photograph taken by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite on August 22 gives a glimpse of several rivers overflowing following the heavy downpour. 

@NASA has released the before and after images showing the scale of devastation due to the century’s worst flood in Kerala. pic.twitter.com/M5D9YqGsMf

— News Nation (@NewsNationTV) August 28, 2018

The after-flooding satellite image shows water from Karuvannur River and Periyar River spilling through its banks. The flooding in the rivers killed hundreds and rendered lakhs homeless.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan estimated that the flooding, which was the worst since 1924, had caused a damage worth over Rs 20,000 crore to the state.