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January 21, 2015 - Tropical Storm Chedza (06S) over Madagascar
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Although Tropical Storm Chedza was never an extremely high-wind event, it carried heavy rain which added to an already critical situation in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, adding to severe flooding which left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
According to the ACT Alliance, Tropical Cyclone Bansi began dumping rain on the region on January 9, 2015, just as a rain-filled depression was forming in the Mozambique Channel. Early on January 16, that depression quickly intensified to become Tropical Storm Chedza, and it moved over the southwestern part of Madagascar that same day. Both as a depression, and as a tropical storm, Chedza was a heavy rain-maker and contributed to the flooding across the region. Both storms have hit during the annual season of heavy rain.
Various estimates of mortality and damage from the floods vary, and numbers will become more accurate as waters recede and relief workers can enter the flooded areas. On January 16, Reliefweb reported 176 dead and over 200,000 displaced in Malawi alone. Others liken the multi-caused flooding to a “slow tsunami”, with rivers swelling more and more as additional rains come, and slowly rising far over their banks – in some places as much as six feet high - especially in the south of the region.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image early on the morning of January 16, as Tropical Storm Chedza was taking aim at the west coast of Madagascar. The storm contained a large, cloud-filled eye and intense bands of rain which spiraled into the center. The rain bands almost completely covered Madagascar and also partially cover the African mainland, to the west.
At 0900 UTC (4 a.m. EST) that same day, Tropical Storm Chedza's maximum sustained winds were near 57.5 mph (92.6 km/h). Chedza was centered near 20.0 south latitude and 44.2 east longitude, about 748 miles (1,204 km) west of St. Denis, La Reunion Island. Chedza was moving to the east-southeast at about 7 mph (11.1 km/h).
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/16/2015
Resolutions:
1km (959.3 KB), 500m (3.1 MB), 250m (7.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Although Tropical Storm Chedza was never an extremely high-wind event, it carried heavy rain which added to an already critical situation in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, adding to severe flooding which left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
According to the ACT Alliance, Tropical Cyclone Bansi began dumping rain on the region on January 9, 2015, just as a rain-filled depression was forming in the Mozambique Channel. Early on January 16, that depression quickly intensified to become Tropical Storm Chedza, and it moved over the southwestern part of Madagascar that same day. Both as a depression, and as a tropical storm, Chedza was a heavy rain-maker and contributed to the flooding across the region. Both storms have hit during the annual season of heavy rain.
Various estimates of mortality and damage from the floods vary, and numbers will become more accurate as waters recede and relief workers can enter the flooded areas. On January 16, Reliefweb reported 176 dead and over 200,000 displaced in Malawi alone. Others liken the multi-caused flooding to a “slow tsunami”, with rivers swelling more and more as additional rains come, and slowly rising far over their banks – in some places as much as six feet high - especially in the south of the region.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image early on the morning of January 16, as Tropical Storm Chedza was taking aim at the west coast of Madagascar. The storm contained a large, cloud-filled eye and intense bands of rain which spiraled into the center. The rain bands almost completely covered Madagascar and also partially cover the African mainland, to the west.
At 0900 UTC (4 a.m. EST) that same day, Tropical Storm Chedza's maximum sustained winds were near 57.5 mph (92.6 km/h). Chedza was centered near 20.0 south latitude and 44.2 east longitude, about 748 miles (1,204 km) west of St. Denis, La Reunion Island. Chedza was moving to the east-southeast at about 7 mph (11.1 km/h).
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/16/2015
Resolutions:
1km (959.3 KB), 500m (3.1 MB), 250m (7.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
