Floods in northwestern Tunisia

Melting snow, overflowing rivers and heavy rains flooded parts of northwestern Tunisia in late February 2012. Flood waters reached rooftops in some areas, and at least one vehicle was swept away by fast-moving water.

These images show the coastal region of northwestern Tunisia and northeastern Algeria. Multiple water bodies appear slightly enlarged on February 28, and two lakes, one near the city of Tunis and the other west of the Tunisia-Algeria border, are clearly higher.

The electric-blue hue of the Algerian lake suggests the presence of sediment, perhaps carried there by rushing flood waters. (EarthObservatory)

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the top image on February 28, 2012. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same region on February 19, 2012. Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to better distinguish between water and land. Water is blue. Vegetation is bright green. Bare ground and urban areas are earth-toned. Clouds are pale blue-green. NASA image courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.

Featured image credit: yousaytoo