Kerala is recuperating from a 'once in a century disaster' that ripped through its lands. Incessant monsoon rains and floods ensured that at least 22 dams were open at once in the state. Rivers overflowing and changing its course were a common sight in Kerala for a week between August 15 and August 21.
Now, NASA's Earth Observatory has released two images showing the extend of the damage caused. One image shows the image of Kerala as on February 6, while the other is taken on August 22.
The February 6 image was captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite acquired the second image, after flood water had inundated the area. The images, which are in false-color, makes flood water appear dark blue and vegetation bright green.
The second image, taken on August 22, has visibly lesser green spots compared to the first one.
The rains and floods have undoubtedly caused visible changes to the landscape of Kerala. According to a data released by the Disaster Management's state control room on Tuesday, 474 persons have died in the rains and floods since May 29, when the South West Monsoon set over Kerala.