Parts of Louisiana and far-eastern Texas experienced extremely powerful winds, rain and flooding as Hurricane Laura knocked out power for hundreds of thousands as a Category 4 storm. The hurricane made landfall on Thursday, August 27, 2020 with sustained winds of 150 mph, devastating southern Louisiana communities for miles. Louisiana’s Lake Charles is littered with storm damage and dealing with a chemical plant fire according to the governor. More than 1,500 search and rescue personnel, plus 400 boats and high-water vehicles were headed to the worst hit areas. As of Thursday afternoon the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 65 mph.
When crises like this occur, Maxar is committed to supporting the humanitarian community by providing critical and actionable information to assist response efforts and fulfilling our purpose, For a Better World. As part of our Open Data Program, Maxar will publicly release data of the affected areas to support response efforts as it becomes available.
Any imagery or data distributed through the Open Data Program is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 license (CC BY-NC 4.0). This licensing allows for non-commercial use of the information, meaning it can quickly be integrated into first responder workflows with organizations like Team Rubicon, the Red Cross and other nonprofits. If commercial companies are interested in using the data distributed through the Open Data Program, it can be purchased by contacting us here.
Imagery has been posted on our Open Data Program website. Please continue to check this site and our social media channels for updates on additional post-event data.
Damage from Hurricane Laura at the Lake Charles Region Airport, Louisiana, from August 27, 2020.