Devastating floods and mudslides in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province has killed more than 400 in one of the country’s deadliest disasters in recent history. Flash floods washed away entire homes and buried the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in debris, with some areas being completely wiped out. United Nations officials estimate that 3,000 families are now homeless because of the tragedy. Climate experts say warming temperatures are increasing the intensity and frequency of Africa’s rains, making these types of events more catastrophic.
Learn more about the flooding in the DRC in these news articles:
When crises occur, Maxar is committed to supporting the humanitarian community by providing critical and actionable information to assist response efforts and fulfill 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 noncommercial 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.
Bushushu, DRC, May 12, 2023