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November 20, 2024 - Heavy Sediment in the Gulf of Batabano
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Hurricane Rafael struck Cuba on November 6, 2024, rapidly crossing over the western side of the island before moving to the Gulf of Mexico. As the storm approached Cuba, it strengthened to carry maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) prior to landfall, churning the waters south of the island and stirring up considerable sediment.
As Rafael crossed western Cuba, it dropped torrential rainfall, knocked down the power grid, triggered flooding, damaged trees and homes, and wiped out some agricultural fields. ReliefWeb notes that, according to the Government of Cuba, as of November 13, 8 people died from the storm at approximately 500,000 people were impacted by the hurricane. Many of these impacts are expected to be long-lasting.
The Gulf of Batabanó sits south of western Cuba and north of the Isla de la Juventude (Isle of Youth). It stretches over an area of about 20,000 square kilometers and is remarkably shallow—an average depth of about 6 meters (19.7 feet). The bottom of the Gulf is rich in sand and silt, with sparse vegetation that isn’t very effective in holding the substrate in place, allowing heavy winds, rain, and runoff to churn up sediment.
On November 18, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of Cuba almost two weeks after the passage of Hurricane Rafael. While the resolution of this image doesn’t permit close examination of damage on land, the impact of the storm on the Gulf of Batabanó is striking. The waters, which are normally tinted turquoise, are now filled with white sand and tan sediment—the result of battering wind, waves, and continuing runoff.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 11/18/2024
Resolutions:
1km (74 KB), 500m (185.9 KB), 250m (369.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Hurricane Rafael struck Cuba on November 6, 2024, rapidly crossing over the western side of the island before moving to the Gulf of Mexico. As the storm approached Cuba, it strengthened to carry maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) prior to landfall, churning the waters south of the island and stirring up considerable sediment.
As Rafael crossed western Cuba, it dropped torrential rainfall, knocked down the power grid, triggered flooding, damaged trees and homes, and wiped out some agricultural fields. ReliefWeb notes that, according to the Government of Cuba, as of November 13, 8 people died from the storm at approximately 500,000 people were impacted by the hurricane. Many of these impacts are expected to be long-lasting.
The Gulf of Batabanó sits south of western Cuba and north of the Isla de la Juventude (Isle of Youth). It stretches over an area of about 20,000 square kilometers and is remarkably shallow—an average depth of about 6 meters (19.7 feet). The bottom of the Gulf is rich in sand and silt, with sparse vegetation that isn’t very effective in holding the substrate in place, allowing heavy winds, rain, and runoff to churn up sediment.
On November 18, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of Cuba almost two weeks after the passage of Hurricane Rafael. While the resolution of this image doesn’t permit close examination of damage on land, the impact of the storm on the Gulf of Batabanó is striking. The waters, which are normally tinted turquoise, are now filled with white sand and tan sediment—the result of battering wind, waves, and continuing runoff.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 11/18/2024
Resolutions:
1km (74 KB), 500m (185.9 KB), 250m (369.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
