Monsoon rains have resulted in serious flooding in Pakistan's southern Sindh Province. A drain breach in Badin District left residents marooned on dry spots separated by high water.

The flooding in southern Pakistan affected 100 villages and more than 200,000 people, according to news reports. Pakistan's prime minister declared parts of the region disaster areas and pledged thousands of tents to provide temporary shelter.

Pakistan typically receives most of its moisture between July and September. Despite some cloud cover, these images, acquired one month apart, show significant changes to the landscape. In mid-August, flood water sits on areas that had been dry a month earlier. Although conditions remain relatively dry around the city of Hyderabad, flooding is obvious around the city of Badin.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured these images on August 16, 2011 (top), and July 17, 2011 (bottom). The images show southern Pakistan, near the coast and near the border with India.
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© NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water ranges in color from electric blue to navy. Vegetation is green, and bare ground is pink-beige. Clouds are pale blue-green.
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© NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.