East of Australia in the Pacific Ocean, Tropical Cyclone Erica plowed into the French island of New Caledonia on March 13, 2003, leaving at least two people dead, one hundred injured, and an estimated one thousand without homes. Erica peaked as a Category 5 cyclone on March 12, and as of March 14 had showed rapid weakening to a Category 1 storm. This image of Erica shows the storm’s eye northwest of New Caledonia on March 13.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the storm devestated the island’s west coast: tearing roofs off houses, uprooting trees, and cutting phone and power lines. The storm may also have destroyed crops in the northern province of the island.

The high-resolution image provided above is 1 kilometer per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC