Somalia flooding Jilib, Saakow, and Bu'aale districts 2018 05 01

UNOSAT produced satellite-detected flood water extent in the districts of Jilib, Saakow, and Bu'aale, Somalia. The analysis was conducted analyzing Sentinel-1 images acquired on the 1 May 2018. As observed from the satellite imagery, a total of 92,000 ha of land were inundated in the area of interest. The most affected districts are Saakow, with almost 38,000 ha of flooded land and southern Diinsoor, with almost 27,000 ha. At least 20 settlements are potentially located within the flooded area. It is likely that flood waters have been systematically underestimated along highly vegetated areas along main river banks and within built-up urban areas because of the special characteristics of the satellite data used.