Earlier this month, heavy rainfall pummeled parts of the Midwest, triggering floods that inundated homes, washed out roads and caused the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to crest at its second-highest level on record.

Images captured by NASA’s Operational Land Imager show Iowa’s swollen Cedar and Wapsipinicon rivers.

The Cedar River swelled to almost 22 feet, and its waters flowed between 84,000 to 85,000 cubic feet per second, much faster than the typical 24,000 cubic feet per second. Thousands of residents in Cedar Rapids were urged to evacuated their homes.

The images use shortwave infrared light to highlight the flooding a light blue color, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. During a flood, disturbed sediment colors rivers brown, which makes it difficult to distinguish flood water from land.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, flooding in the Cedar Rapids area is uncommon in September. Flooding is more typical in the spring and summer when the heavy rains occur.