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Japan Flood Disaster As Seen In Stunning Before/After Satellite Imagery | The Weather Channel
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Stunning satellite imagery reveals the scope of flooding north of Tokyo, Japan.

ByJon Erdman•September 12, 2015




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Training rainbands from a weakening Tropical Storm Etau triggered disastrous flooding north of Tokyo, Japan, inundating at least 13,000 homes.

(MORE: Thousands of Homes Flooded in Japan)

Hardest hit were areas along the Kinugawa and Tone Rivers, including the city of Joso, population about 42,000 about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tokyo in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Digital Globe and Google released a set of photos on September 11, which help to capture the scope and magnitude of the flooding. Google has also started a disaster information map and person finder.

We've built some before and after GIFs below along the affected stretches of the Kinugawa and Tone Rivers.


A wide view of the flooded city of Joso, Japan, visible by light-tan-colored water in the after satellite image of the loop above on September 11, 2015.

A wide view of the flooded city of Joso, Japan, visible by light-tan-colored water in the after satellite image of the loop above on September 11, 2015.

(Google/DigitalGlobe)


 


A zoomed-in view of the flooded city of Joso, Japan, on September 11, 2015.

A zoomed-in view of the flooded city of Joso, Japan, on September 11, 2015.

(Google/DigitalGlobe)


 


View of the flooded Mitsukaidodaini High School property (building with curved roof in center of the images) in the city of Joso, Japan, on September 11, 2015. Note also the flooded baseball diamond in the left-center of the image loop.

View of the flooded Mitsukaidodaini High School property (building with curved roof in center of the images) in the city of Joso, Japan, on September 11, 2015. Note also the flooded baseball diamond in the left-center of the image loop.

(Google/DigitalGlobe)


 


A tributary of the Tone River floods the Joso Country Club (indicated to the right of the red bracket) and spilled into a floodplain west of Moriya, Japan on September 11, 2015. An inundated bridge is highlighted at the top of the yellow line.

A tributary of the Tone River floods the Joso Country Club (indicated to the right of the red bracket) and spilled into a floodplain west of Moriya, Japan on September 11, 2015. An inundated bridge is highlighted at the top of the yellow line.

(Google/DigitalGlobe)


 


Flooded lowlands northeast of the city of Joso, Japan on September 11, 2015. The Joso By-pass (highway 294) runs north to south in the center of the images. The yellow box highlights vehicles parked on a bridge surrounded by floodwater.

Flooded lowlands northeast of the city of Joso, Japan on September 11, 2015. The Joso By-pass (highway 294) runs north to south in the center of the images. The yellow box highlights vehicles parked on a bridge surrounded by floodwater.

(Google/DigitalGlobe)


 


The confluence of the swollen Tone River (upper left to lower right) and Kinugawa River (from top center) inundates a triangle-shaped floodplain southwest of Moriya, Japan on September 11, 2015.

The confluence of the swollen Tone River (upper left to lower right) and Kinugawa River (from top center) inundates a triangle-shaped floodplain southwest of Moriya, Japan on September 11, 2015.

(Google/DigitalGlobe)


 


The swollen Tone River swamps fields in the floodplain southeast of Moriya, Japan on September 11, 2015.

The swollen Tone River swamps fields in the floodplain southeast of Moriya, Japan on September 11, 2015.

(Google/Digital Globe)


MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Tropical Storm Etau's Flooding in Japan


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A woman walks towards a collapsed house on a field inundated by floodwaters in Joso in Ibaraki prefecture on Sept. 11, 2015. (AFP/Getty Images)


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