Tropical Cyclone Nargis: ZKI maps flooding in Myanmar

On May 2, 2008, tropical cyclone 'Nargis' swept over Myanmar and left behind a path of destruction. Wind speeds of more than 200 km/h and a storm surge of up to 3 meters in height destroyed more than 90 percent of housing and large parts of infrastructure in some regions. It is believed that more then 100,000 people might have died and more than a million people have lost their homes in the disaster (16/05/08).In the affected regions the people faced a lack of food and drinking water. As large regions were still inundated and the rain intensity increased, there was a high risk of epidemic plagues, like cholera, in the Irrawaddy delta. Based on data of the RADAR satellites TerraSAR-X (DLR/Infoterra) and ALOS/PALSAR (JAXA), the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI) at DLR produced maps of the affected areas and supported the activities of the World Food Programme (WFP) and UN OCHA. Map production was carried out in the framework of the GMES Service Element RESPOND or accomplished in collaboration with ITHACA.