NASA Earth Observatory - Indus River Valley Pakistan - 8/18/09 Vs. 8/17/10

[hatrack]

Acquired August 17, 2010


Acquired August 18, 2009

[Nederland]

1. I wonder how unusual this is

I guess you'd also have to look at pictures from the the last 30 years to really know, right?

[hatrack]

2. Peak width currently 25 kilometers - peak width in average monsoon seasons is one kilometer

EDIT

The Pakistani crisis began in late July, when unusually heavy monsoon rains tore through the country from its mountainous northwest. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed. Agriculture has been severely hit, with an estimated 1.7 million acres (nearly 700,000 hectares) of farmland wiped out. In a televised address to the nation Saturday, Gilani said 20 million were now homeless. He did not elaborate, and it was unclear how many of those people were briefly forced to leave their homes and how many had lost their houses altogether.

Fresh flood waves swelled the River Indus on Saturday, threatening nearby cities, towns and villages in southern Sindh province, said Mohammed Ajmal Shad, a senior meteorologist. The Indus was already more than 15 miles (25 kilometers) wide at some points on Friday _ 25 times wider than during normal monsoon seasons. Authorities were trying to evacuate or warn people in Jacobabad, Hyderabad, Thatta, Ghotki, Larkana and other areas in Sindh province that so far have been spared floods.

Ghulam Sarwar said he, his wife and eight children had already fled the town of Thal because of flooding. Overnight, they had to get out of Jacobabad after the fresh warnings. Now they wait in a small tent relief camp on the edge of the city of Sukkur. "Our whole world has been ruined by the flood, and the whole of Sindh is drowning," the 42-year-old said. "We do not know how long we will have to suffer."

The Pakistani government's reputation _ already shaky to begin with _ has suffered during the crisis, especially after the president decided to visit Europe as the crisis was unfolding. President Asif Ali Zardari has tried to make up for that public relations gaffe by meeting with flood victims in hard-hit areas since returning.

EDIT

http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/pakistan/More-US-helicopters-join-Pakistan-flood-aid-effort/Article1-587068.aspx

[nashville_brook]

3. 25% of the country is under water. you'd have to go back a lot farther than 30 years.

[OnlinePoker]

4. 25% of the Indus Valley, maybe, but there are a lot of mountains in Pakistan

No where near 25% of whole country.

[hatrack]

5. Yes, but most people in Pakistan don't live in the mountains

This is rather like saying that massive flooding along the Nile would only hurt those Egyptians who happened to live near it, while those who lived in the desert would be unaffected.