A combination of factors, including La Niña and a strange jet stream pattern, caused devastating floods. The Indus River rapidly rose, and a dam failure in Sindh Province sent part of the river down an alternate channel. The resulting floodwater lake lingered for months, leaving crops, roads, airports, even entire communities underwater.
The town of Khairpur Nathan Shah was one of many communities affected by the floodwater lake. Normally surrounded by croplands and irrigation infrastructure, the town was instead surrounded by water for months. The Landsat 5 satellite captured these images of the area on September 4, 2010, November 7, 2010, and January 26, 2011. In these false-color images, water appears blue, vegetation appears bright green, and bare land ranges in color from in pink-beige to brick.