Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Thousands Affected By Flooding In Mexico
By Mark Dunphy -
Several rivers in southeastern Mexico spilled over their banks in
recent days. The Usumacinta River alone damaged homes and
croplands in multiple cities, and isolated rural areas by washing
out roads. The governor of the state of Tabasco estimated that
regional floods had affected 90,000 residents.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
NASA’s Terra satellite captured these images (top), and October
30, 2009 (bottom). Both images use a combination of infrared and
visible light to increase contrast between water and land. Water
is dark blue, vegetation is bright green, and clouds are pale
blue-green.
The Usumacinta River, visible as a thin river in 2009, flows past
multiple lakes and ponds en route to the sea. In 2011, many of the
water bodies have merged, and water sits on floodplains throughout
the region. (This area also experienced severe flooding in 2010.)
The flooding in southeastern Mexico was part of a larger weather
phenomenon in the region. On October 19, 2011, the United Nations
News Centre reported that heavy rains had caused serious flooding
in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, as
well as Mexico. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that floods had affected an
estimated 154,000 residents of Guatemala, 38,000 residents of
Honduras, and 134,000 residents of Nicaragua. The floods had
already claimed dozens of lives, OCHA said. Persistent clouds
prevented MODIS from obtaining clear views of some of these areas.
NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Terra – MODIS