Satellites follow killer cyclone

May 12, 2008

Satellite images from NASA track a cyclone and the flooding it caused--which may end up killing more than 100,000 residents of Myanmar.

The Government of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has reported that more than 22,000 people have died so far, due to the effects of Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which hit the country on May 3. But experts think the death tool is more likely between 63,000 and 100,000 people, according to CNN. Worldwide humanitarian efforts are being slowed down by an isolationist Government, which brings fears of even more mass deaths to follow because of disease and starvation.

The image above shows Myanmar on April 17 before Cyclone Nargis hit; the image below shows the flooding of about 130,000 square miles in the Irriwadi Delta on May 5, after the storm.
Credit: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team