May 30, 2023 - Flooding in Northern Italy

[image05302023_main.jpg] [image05302023_rollover.jpg]

May 26, 2023 May 5, 2023
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Heavy rainfall drenched north-central Italy, especially the
Emilia-Romagna region, between April 30 and late May 2023. On May 19,
ReliefWeb advised that at least 20 rivers had overflowed and at least
300 landslides had occurred. According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), as of May 22 the flooding has led to the death of at least 23
people in Italy and forced thousands of residents to flee their homes.
10,000 people had been evacuated and 200 roads had been reported
closed.

On May 21, the Italian authorities activated the EU Civil Protection
Mechanism, requesting assistance for high-capacity pumping equipment.
The European Union mobilized offers of equipment from Austria,
Bulgaria, Germany, France, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

Floodwaters have lingered across much of the inundated region,
including in the town of Conselice, in the province of Ravenna. On May
26, the mayor of that town ordered the evacuation of all homes in the
sections that are still flooded due to health and hygiene concerns
brought on by “stagnant water, the failure of the sewage system, the
possible interruptions to drinking water supply, and the presence of
uncollected waste”. A vaccination program to protect against tetanus is
also underway, according to media reports.

On May 26, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of
north-central Italy showing severe flooding of the region. In this type
of image, water appears deep blue, vegetation looks green, and open or
sparsely vegetated land is tan. The town of Ravenna is marked by a
group of tan-toned pixels south of the large rounded lagoon-and-wetland
complex of Valli de Comacchio. It is obvious in this image that
waterways are swollen and flooding overlies fields, especially north of
Valli de Comacchio.

By clicking on the dates, it is easy to compare the May 26 image with a
second Terra MODIS false-color image acquired on May 5. It is obvious
that flooding is more severe in the May 26 image, especially in the
south. However, May 5 also shows flooding following extreme rains of
May 2-3 which delivered more than 20 centimeters (8 inches) in a
24-hour period in some locations.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 5/26/2023
Resolutions: 1km (135.5 KB), 500m (318.1 KB), 250m (180.2
KB)
Bands Used: 7.2.1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-05-30

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