Sri-Lanka floods captured by Sentinel-2
According to the latest news 150.000 people have been affected and more than 170 are dead, after torrential monsoon rains triggered devastating floods and tens of landslides in Sri Lanka’s southern regions of Matara.
Sentinel-2A VNIR image composite depicting the wide flooded area just located northern to Matara. Light blue pixels indicate flooded area.
Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite despite not designed for flood monitoring, captured the area yesterday morning (28th May) in a very fortunate cloud-free instant just after the heavy rains stopped showing a terrifying landscape.
The animation below makes us better understand the gravity of the event with 50 km² totally submersed. Pre and post event images are both from Sentinel-2A.
Sentinel-2A visible images animation showing the area affected by the floods
The above images have been promptly used by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) of Sri Lanka to assess the flooded areas and better organise the rescue activities jointly with the local authorities.
People travel by boat through floodwaters in the suburb of Kaduwela – Colombo (Credits: CNN)
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