NASA Releases Images of Kerala Floods; Take a Look at Before and After Images of the Devastating Calamity

Washington, August 28: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released shocking visuals of the floods that ravaged Kerala earlier this month. The 2018 floods in Kerala have been described as the worst to hit the state ever since 1924. Torrential rains continued to lash Kerala since August 8 triggering massive floods in the state. As per the latest government update on the flood situation, 322 people have lost their lives in the monsoon fury since August 8.

The image released by NASA shows satellite-based rainfall accumulation in the southern state. The first image was acquired on February 6, 2018, before the flood while the second one was acquired on August 22, 2018, after flood water had inundated the area. The pictures show a clear situation in Kerala after rainfall peaked in the state on July 20 and again reached abnormally high levels between August 8 and 16.

Kerala on February 6, Before the Flood:

Kerala on August 18, After the flood:

The shocking visuals released by NASA shows the destruction at places like Alappuzha, Kottayam, Changanassery and Thiruvalla surrounding the Vembanad lake.

Take a look at the NASA Video Showing How Monsoon Rainfall, Floods Spread in Kerala:

Earlier this month, NASA has released a video using satellite data that provides an estimate of rainfall and shows the spread of the resulting severe flooding in Kerala, and parts of Karnataka.  In June, Kerala received 42 percent more rainfall than normal for this time period and in the first 20 days of August, the region experienced 164 percent more rain than normal.

Kerala has recently been hit by the worst floods in the century, which caused it a loss of Rs 19,512 crore. The flood-ravaged state has received financial help from various states, Central government, organisations and individuals. Over 3.26 lakh people are still in relief camps across Kerala even after a fortnight of the devastating deluge that left a trail of destruction.

Reports inform that the state administration has pegged the damages-over 90,000 km of roads, hundreds of bridges and around 50,000 acres of crops and over 10,000 homes were destroyed, at over Rs 35,000 crore, which is much more than its annual budget.

A total of 3,42,699 people are in 1,093 relief camps, a release from chief minister’s office said. According to reports, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued necessary instructions to district collectors on the aid during a video conference to review the post-flood situation in the state.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 28, 2018 12:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).