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August 24, 2022 - Flooding in Pakistan
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Extremely heavy monsoonal storms have drenched Pakistan in 2022, bringing flash and urban flooding, landslides, and Glacial Lake Outburst flooding—creating a disaster that is affecting more than 3 million people. According to a report published August 13 by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Pakistan received more than 60 percent of its total normal monsoon rainfall in just three weeks since the start of the monsoon season in July. Compared to pre-monsoon levels, rainfall has increased by 267 percent in Balochistan and 183 percent in Sindh.
On August 23, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that 830 people had been killed from the disastrous rains from June 14, 2022, to date, with an additional 1,348 injured. They also reported that 93,775 houses had been damaged in just the last 24 hours, with a total of 413,226 damaged since June 14. The cumulative length of roads damaged are currently 2,886.9 kilometers and more than 707,000 head of livestock have been killed. Three major reservoirs are at or near capacity: Tarbela is completely full, Mangla is just 64.15 feet of storage capacity remaining, and Chasma has only 7 feet remaining.
Unfortunately, little relief from rain is in sight. The forecast in the NDMA report on August 23 reads, “Widespread thunderstorm/rain of heavy to very heavy intensity at scattered places and extremely heavy falls at isolated places is expected over lower and central Sindh. Scattered to widespread thunderstorm/rain of moderate to HEAVY INTENSITY with isolated very heavy falls is expected over Eastern Balochistan and DG Khan, Multan, DI Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Peshawar & Sargodha Divisions along with Upper catchments of Rivers Kabul and Indus. Scattered thunderstorm/rain of moderate intensity is expected over the upper catchments of Rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi & Sutlej along with Islamabad and Rawalpindi & Gujranwala Divisions. Isolated thunderstorm/ rain is expected over rest of the country except Western Balochistan.”
On August 23, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image showing extreme flooding of the Indus River in the Sindh province of Pakistan. This type of image uses infrared and visible light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help distinguish water from land. Water appears various shades of blue, depending on depth and any sediment in the water, with the deepest water looking the darkest. Vegetation looks bright green and open or sparsely vegetated land looks tan. Cloud ranges from white to electric blue. This image clearly shows the Indus River overflowing its banks and inundating the broad flood plain. Lake Hamal bounds the western edge of the inundation.
While this single image tells a striking tale of intense flooding, the situation becomes even more clear by comparing two MODIS images captured of the same region on different days. Thanks to the NASA Worldview App, this is very simple to visualize. To compare an image of the region acquired by Aqua’s MODIS on August 5 with the one acquired on August 23, simply click here. The imagery becomes even more sobering when one realizes that on August 5 the region was already experiencing a significant flooding event after more than seven weeks of severe monsoon rains.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/23/2022
Resolutions:
1km (331 KB), 500m (826.5 KB), 250m (496.5 KB)
Bands Used: 7.2.1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Extremely heavy monsoonal storms have drenched Pakistan in 2022, bringing flash and urban flooding, landslides, and Glacial Lake Outburst flooding—creating a disaster that is affecting more than 3 million people. According to a report published August 13 by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Pakistan received more than 60 percent of its total normal monsoon rainfall in just three weeks since the start of the monsoon season in July. Compared to pre-monsoon levels, rainfall has increased by 267 percent in Balochistan and 183 percent in Sindh.
On August 23, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that 830 people had been killed from the disastrous rains from June 14, 2022, to date, with an additional 1,348 injured. They also reported that 93,775 houses had been damaged in just the last 24 hours, with a total of 413,226 damaged since June 14. The cumulative length of roads damaged are currently 2,886.9 kilometers and more than 707,000 head of livestock have been killed. Three major reservoirs are at or near capacity: Tarbela is completely full, Mangla is just 64.15 feet of storage capacity remaining, and Chasma has only 7 feet remaining.
Unfortunately, little relief from rain is in sight. The forecast in the NDMA report on August 23 reads, “Widespread thunderstorm/rain of heavy to very heavy intensity at scattered places and extremely heavy falls at isolated places is expected over lower and central Sindh. Scattered to widespread thunderstorm/rain of moderate to HEAVY INTENSITY with isolated very heavy falls is expected over Eastern Balochistan and DG Khan, Multan, DI Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Peshawar & Sargodha Divisions along with Upper catchments of Rivers Kabul and Indus. Scattered thunderstorm/rain of moderate intensity is expected over the upper catchments of Rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi & Sutlej along with Islamabad and Rawalpindi & Gujranwala Divisions. Isolated thunderstorm/ rain is expected over rest of the country except Western Balochistan.”
On August 23, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image showing extreme flooding of the Indus River in the Sindh province of Pakistan. This type of image uses infrared and visible light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help distinguish water from land. Water appears various shades of blue, depending on depth and any sediment in the water, with the deepest water looking the darkest. Vegetation looks bright green and open or sparsely vegetated land looks tan. Cloud ranges from white to electric blue. This image clearly shows the Indus River overflowing its banks and inundating the broad flood plain. Lake Hamal bounds the western edge of the inundation.
While this single image tells a striking tale of intense flooding, the situation becomes even more clear by comparing two MODIS images captured of the same region on different days. Thanks to the NASA Worldview App, this is very simple to visualize. To compare an image of the region acquired by Aqua’s MODIS on August 5 with the one acquired on August 23, simply click here. The imagery becomes even more sobering when one realizes that on August 5 the region was already experiencing a significant flooding event after more than seven weeks of severe monsoon rains.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/23/2022
Resolutions:
1km (331 KB), 500m (826.5 KB), 250m (496.5 KB)
Bands Used: 7.2.1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
