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New Zealand has been hit by unprecedented rainfall over the past week, which has been called the “biggest climate event” in the country’s history. An estimated 240 mm (9.8 inches) of rain fell in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, on January 27—an entire summer’s worth of rain—making it the wettest day on record. Widespread flooding and landslides have forced evacuations and four people have died from the extreme weather.

On January 30, history authorities issued a “red” warning for more heavy rain—the highest level of extreme weather events—for Auckland and the nearby Northland region in anticipation of up to 120 mm additional rainfall over the next few days.

Learn more about the New Zealand flooding 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.

Pre-event satellite image of Auckland, New Zealand from January 18, 2023.

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