Mississippi Flooding in 2011

Mississippi Flooding in 2011
Type: 
Video
Audience: 
Informal, Formal, 9 - 12, 6 - 8
Standards: 
ESS3.B
Keywords: 
natural disasters, LANDSAT
Summary: 
Heavy spring rains and snowmelt led to devastating floods along the Mississippi River in May 2011. Landsat 5 flew over the Mississippi River on May 10, 2011, giving a distinct view of the extraordinary extent of the flooding.
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Video Description: 

Satellite imagery of the 2011 flooding along the Mississippi River compared with imagery from 2010. Shows high resolution images from Landsat 5 of Cairo, Illinois, and Memphis, Tennessee.

To prevent flooding in Cairo, Illinois, the US Army Corps of Engineers blasted a two-mile hole in the levee to let the waters flow into the New Madrid Floodway.
 
Near Memphis Tennessee, flood waters crested at 48 feet, only inches below the record high level of the 1937 floods.

 

Source: 

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010773/

Credits: 

NASA SVS