[HOT] Floods in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

[hbogner]

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=83697&eocn=home&eoci=nh&src=share

"More than three months worth of rain fell in just a few days in May 
2014 in the Balkan Peninsula of Europe, leading to devastating floods 
and more than 3,000 landslides. The high water wiped out at least 
100,000 structures and homes, killed thousands of livestock animals, and 
exposed or moved many landmines that were set during 1990s warfare. 
According to news accounts, more than 40 people have died so far and 
nearly one million have been displaced and/or cut off from clean water 
supplies.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua 
satellite captured an image of flooding in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia 
and Herzegovina on May 19, 2014. The second image shows the same area 
one year ago during a more typical spring. Turn on the image comparison 
tool to see the difference.

The images are both composed with false color, using a combination of 
infrared and visible light (MODIS bands 7-2-1). Flood water appears 
black; vegetation is bright green; and bare ground is brown. This band 
combination makes it easier to spot changes in river dimensions.

The flooding was caused by an extra-tropical cyclone (Tamara) that 
pulled in moisture from the Mediterranean Sea for nearly three days. 
Much of the water has swollen the Sava River, which cuts across the 
middle of the peninsula. The event is considered the region’s worst 
flood in more than 120 years of record-keeping. More than 40 percent of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina was thought to be in some level of flooding."