Heavy rains in Central and Eastern Europe over the past few weeks have led to some of the worst flooding the region has witnessed in over a century. The floods have killed more than 100 people in Germany, Russia, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic and have led to as much as $20 billion in damage. This false-color image of the Danube River and its tributaries was taken on August 19, 2002, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, sits just south of the large bend in the river at the top of the image. Here the water reached levels not seen since 1965. Fortunately, the riverbanks are lined with 33-foot retainer walls throughout the city, so it did not face the same fate as Dresden or Prague along the Elbe River. But as one can see, the floodwaters hit many rural areas farther south. As last reported, the water was receding along the Danube.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
