Incessant rains since 25 May 2008 have left Iowa reeling from floods. Satellites are helping emergency relief teams to evaluate the needs of flood-hit areas in the state capital Des Moines.

Following a tornado on 25 May 2008, heavy rains have continued unabated in Iowa, rivers have reached record levels and levees have been breached. In all, 83 counties have been hit by flooding and 10 have received evacuation orders. On 14 June, it was the turn of Des Moines, the state capital, to evacuate its 200,000 inhabitants. 
 

To organize emergency response for populations in Des Moines, civil protection and humanitarian aid logistics teams need maps quickly to get shelters, bedding, blankets, food and treatment to flood-hit areas.
 

Two SPOT scenes were delivered for the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters: a SPOT 5 archive image from 12 June 2007 and a SPOT 4 image acquired on 17 June 2008.
 
 

To show how satellite imagery can be used by emergency relief logistics teams, Spot Image produced a quick map of the city of Des Moines.

The SPOT 5 archive image highlights different areas: the city centre in blue, industrial areas in orange, residential areas in red and farmland in green.

 
In the SPOT 4 image, flooded areas around rivers are bounded in yellow.
  
 

The urban area map of Des Moines and the flood extent map were overlaid to highlight flood-affected urban areas. Emergency logistics experts extract all kinds of information from this kind of map, like for example flooded residential areas (red) to count the number of houses and families. They then assess what kind of emergency supplies are needed, such as shelters, food, bedding and blankets, and the number of containers and trucks required to transport it all.

Geographic information extracted from satellite imagery is a vital aid for emergency relief logistics teams quantifying the needs of affected populations and organizing transport for tonnes of equipment and supplies at lowest cost.