Environment
A Space View of the Mississippi River's Record-Breaking Flooding
Officials remain on alert for more of the swelling waters causing damage and death in the central U.S.
The pounding rains that have been blamed for more than 30 deaths in the central U.S. since late last month aren’t done causing trouble. Massive amounts of precipitation that have accumulated in the Mississippi River are sending water levels soaring, prompting dangerous floods in Missouri, Tennessee, and elsewhere.
On the ground, conditions can resemble a Venetian canal, as evidenced in the above photo of a surreal kayak expedition in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. But the record-breaking flooding is so vast it’s obvious from hundreds of miles above Earth, too. Here’s the region during a less-sodden period in January, 2015: