The clouds hid the flood

Southern Mozambique, January 2026.

Heavy rain flooded the Limpopo and Incomati basins. Optical satellites could not see the water: NASA reports that Sentinel-2 saw only clouds while the flood was happening.

Radar sees through clouds

NISAR sends its own signal and listens for the echo. Clouds do not stop it, day or night. Calm water acts like a mirror and sends the signal away, so water looks dark.

The map shows the water the radar found on the first date: rivers, lakes and the sea.

How to read the radar

Where the water rose

Drag the handle across the map. Left is before, right is during the flood. Blue is water that was already there, red is new flood water.

… km² of land newly under water

New water is water during the flood that was not water before. An estimate from a simple threshold, not an official assessment.

What the flood may reach

Potentially affected, judged only from the water the radar saw on the flood date. Not confirmed damage. Estimate

Each mapped element has one state; the numbers add up to . Tap a state or a category to filter the map, then a marker for details and a rescue route.

Roads by class

Class	Under water	Seen by radar

Bridges are not tested: the radar sees the water under them. A bridge counts as flooded when every road leaving one end has new water near it.

What the map can and cannot see

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Limitations

Data details

Plan a rescue route

Start from the team's base. The destination can be inside the flood: the route drives on dry roads to the water's edge, then continues by boat. Experimental

Route planning needs the live Flask server, so it cannot calculate routes on this static GitHub Pages site. Run the project with python app/app.py to use the planner. Routes are experimental and do not replace local authorities.

Team base

Destination

Click the map to set the team's base.

Routes use the water the radar saw on the analysis date. A dry road is not proof that it is open, and boat legs assume water deep enough to navigate. This does not replace local authorities.