Tropical Storm Matthew Floods Louisiana

  • Credit

    NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team.

Tropical Storm Matthew dumped up to 12 inches of rain on southeastern Louisiana when it came ashore on October 10, 2004. The resulting flooding is clearly visible in this MODIS image, acquired the next day when the storm cleared.

As much as 305 millimeters (12 inches) of rain fell over southeastern Louisiana when Tropical Storm Matthew blew ashore on October 10, 2004. Though little damage has been reported, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite detected extensive flooding along the coast and around Lake Pontchartrain, top center. In these false-color images, water is dark blue and black. The Mississippi River runs from the west through the center of the scene, passing through New Orleans, the grey colored area on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. The worst of the flooding appears to be southeast of the city and directly east of the Mississippi River where black water covers land that was green on September 28, 2004. Extensive flooding is also visible around Lake Pontchartrain. Directly west of New Orleans a dark circle of water has puddled on the south side of the lake. The lake’s western and northern shores are also dark with flood water. In these images, clouds are light blue and vegetation is bright green.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    Aqua/MODIS

  • Start Date

    2004-10-11

  • Event Start Date

    2004-10-11

  • NH Image ID

    12520

  • NH Event ID

    10512

  • NH Posting Date

    2004-10-13