December 13, 2021 - Flooding on the MacIntrye River, Australia

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Flooding on the MacIntrye River, Australia
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An unusually wet spring has filled the rivers of New South Wales and
southern Queensland to overflowing, causing serious damage to property
and the loss of at least one life. According to the Canberra Times, on
November 23, 2021, the State Emergency Services responded to 118 calls
for help due to flooding, fallen trees, and leaking roofs with more
rain on the way. Australia’s ABC News reported on December 1 that two
cars were swept off a road as major flooding continued to inundate
homes and spark evacuations in southern Queensland, leading to the
rescue of one driver and the death of the other.

Although the flooding started in November, it has continued into
mid-December. On December 13, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) published
a Flood Warning for the Border Rivers (the rivers that flow near the
border of Queensland and New South Wales). They advise a Major Flood
Warning for the Weir River and Moderate Flood Warning for the Macintyre
River continued, although the waters were beginning to ease.

On December 10, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image
centered on flooding of the Macintyre River. This type of false-color
image (bands 7,2,1) uses a combination of visible and infrared light to
better distinguish between water and land. Water varies in color from
electric blue to navy. Vegetation is bright green and bare ground is
earth-toned. Clouds are pale blue-green. A black line, representing the
border between Queensland (north) and New South Wales (south) has been
overlain on the image. At ordinary levels, the Macintyre River forms
the boundary between those two Australian states, but the flooding has
expanded the river well north and south of the normal course.

While this single image shows significant flooding, it’s informative to
compare two different MODIS images of the same area to appreciate the
change over time. The NASA Worldview App allows such a comparison with
a single click. To view the region on May 13, 2021, and compare with
this image acquired on December 10, click here. On May 13, the
Macintyre was barely discernable. By December 10, the river had broken
its banks and spread onto the surrounding flood plains, as had nearby
rivers in New South Wales.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/10/2021
Resolutions: 1km (301.3 KB), 500m (769.9 KB), 250m (435.4
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-12-13

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