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Pakistan's deadly floods have created a massive 100km-wide inland lake, satellite images show
By Brandon Miller, Judson Jones, Sophia Saifi and Kathleen Magramo, CNN
Updated 5:03 AM ET, Wed August 31, 2022
An image of Sindh province, taken on August 28 from NASA's MODIS satellite sensor.
(CNN)Striking new satellite images that reveal the extent of Pakistan's record flooding show how an overflowing Indus River has turned part of Sindh Province into a 100 kilometer-wide inland lake.
Swaths of the country are now underwater, after what United Nation officials have described as a "monsoon on steroids" brought the heaviest rainfall in living memory and flooding that has killed 1,162 people, injured 3,554 and affected 33 million since mid-June.
The new images, taken on August 28 from NASA's MODIS satellite sensor, show how a combination of heavy rain and an overflowing Indus River have inundated much of Sindh province in the South.
Move the slider to the left to reveal the flood waters (shown in blue) cover large portions of Pakistan's normally arid, brown landscape in this satellite image captured on Sunday, August 28th. Move the slider back to the right to the same date last year. These images are known as 'false-color,' which combine infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and land.
In the center of the picture, a large area of dark blue shows the Indus overflowing and flooding an area around 100 kilometers (62 miles) wide, turning what were once agricultural fields into a giant inland lake.
It's a shocking transformation from the photo taken by the same satellite on the same date last year, which shows the river and its tributaries contained in what appear by comparison to be small, narrow bands, highlighting the extent of the damage in one of the country's hardest-hit areas.
This year's monsoon is already the country's wettest since records began in 1961, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, and the season still has one month to go.
In both Sindh and Balochistan provinces, rainfall has been 500% above average, engulfing entire villages and farmland, razing buildings and wiping out crops.
Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A man swims in floodwaters while heading for higher ground in Charsadda, Pakistan, on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Flood-affected people stand in a long line for food distributed by Pakistani Army troops in Rajanpur on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A flooded area is seen from atop a bridge in the Charsadda district on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Volunteers prepare food boxes to distribute among flood victims in Peshawar on Friday, August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A family carries their belongings through floodwaters in Jamshoro, Pakistan, on August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
People walk through floodwaters in Dagai Mukram Khan, Pakistan, on August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A woman cooks food for her flood-affected family at a makeshift camp in Nawabshah, Pakistan, on Thursday, August 25.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Rescue workers carry out an evacuation operation for stranded people in Rajanpur on August 25.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Villagers take shelter at a makeshift camp after their homes were damaged by flooding in Pakistan's Jaffarabad district on Wednesday, August 24.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Workers load sacks of relief goods for flood victims in Balochistan, Pakistan, on August 5.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A boy wades through his flooded house in Karachi on July 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A man helps children navigate floodwaters using a satellite dish in Balochistan, Pakistan, on Friday, August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Residents gather beside a road damaged by flooding in Kyhber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on Monday, August 29.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A displaced child sleeps under a mosquito net in a tent at a makeshift camp after in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on August 29.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A satellite image shows the scale of the flooding along the banks of the Indus River in Rajanpur, Pakistan, on Sunday, August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
People wade through floodwaters in Pakistan's Mirpur Khas district on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Pakistani Army soldiers distribute food following a flash flood in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Flooded land is seen in Mingora, a town in Pakistan's northern Swat Valley, on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Volunteers load relief food bags on a truck in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Displaced people take refuge along a highway after fleeing from their flood-hit homes in Pakistan's Charsadda district on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Displaced people wade through a flooded area in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Saturday, August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A man carries his sick daughter along a road damaged by floodwaters in Pakistan's northern Swat Valley on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A man swims in floodwaters while heading for higher ground in Charsadda, Pakistan, on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Flood-affected people stand in a long line for food distributed by Pakistani Army troops in Rajanpur on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A flooded area is seen from atop a bridge in the Charsadda district on August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Volunteers prepare food boxes to distribute among flood victims in Peshawar on Friday, August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A family carries their belongings through floodwaters in Jamshoro, Pakistan, on August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
People walk through floodwaters in Dagai Mukram Khan, Pakistan, on August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A woman cooks food for her flood-affected family at a makeshift camp in Nawabshah, Pakistan, on Thursday, August 25.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Rescue workers carry out an evacuation operation for stranded people in Rajanpur on August 25.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Villagers take shelter at a makeshift camp after their homes were damaged by flooding in Pakistan's Jaffarabad district on Wednesday, August 24.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Workers load sacks of relief goods for flood victims in Balochistan, Pakistan, on August 5.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A boy wades through his flooded house in Karachi on July 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A man helps children navigate floodwaters using a satellite dish in Balochistan, Pakistan, on Friday, August 26.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Residents gather beside a road damaged by flooding in Kyhber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on Monday, August 29.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A displaced child sleeps under a mosquito net in a tent at a makeshift camp after in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on August 29.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A satellite image shows the scale of the flooding along the banks of the Indus River in Rajanpur, Pakistan, on Sunday, August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
People wade through floodwaters in Pakistan's Mirpur Khas district on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Pakistani Army soldiers distribute food following a flash flood in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Flooded land is seen in Mingora, a town in Pakistan's northern Swat Valley, on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Volunteers load relief food bags on a truck in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Displaced people take refuge along a highway after fleeing from their flood-hit homes in Pakistan's Charsadda district on August 28.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
Displaced people wade through a flooded area in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Saturday, August 27.
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Photos: 'Unprecedented' flooding in Pakistan
A man carries his sick daughter along a road damaged by floodwaters in Pakistan's northern Swat Valley on August 27.
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While mostly dry weather is expected in the region in coming days, experts say the water will take days to recede.
Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman said Sunday that parts of the country "resemble a small ocean," and that "by the time this is over, we could well have one-quarter or one-third of Pakistan under water."
'Flood of apocalyptic proportions'
In a interview with CNN Tuesday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he had visited Sindh and seen first-hand how the flooding had displaced entire villages and towns.
"There is barely any dry land that we can find. The scale of this tragedy ... 33 million people, that's more than the population of Sri Lanka or Australia," he said.
"And while we understand that the new reality of climate change means more extreme weather, or monsoons, more extreme heat waves like we saw earlier this year, the scale of the current flood is of apocalyptic proportions. We certainly hope it's not a new climate reality."
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies from other areas of the country show how entire villages and hundreds of plots of verdant land have been razed by the rapidly moving floods.
Gudpur, Pakistan
SATELLITE IMAGE ©2022MAXARTECHNOLOGIES
Images from Gudpur, a locality in Punjab, show how the floods have damaged homes, and replaced land with snaking trails of of bare Earth.
Gudpur, Pakistan
SATELLITE IMAGE ©2022MAXARTECHNOLOGIES
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday to inspect its flood damage.
The province has logged most of the latest deaths after water levels rose exponentially, said the country's National Disaster Management Authority.
Sharif said Tuesday the flooding was the "worst in Pakistan's history" and international assistance was needed to deal with the scale of the devastation.
Additional reporting from CNN's Rachel Ramirez, Angela Dewan and Jan Camenzind Broomby.
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