Residents of southern Mozambique who live or farm near rivers are accustomed to heading to higher ground during the wet season. But even by local standards, the deluge in January 2026 was remarkable for its scale and severity.
In December and January, weeks of intense rain swelled rivers and overwhelmed key reservoirs, sending floodwaters spilling into heavily populated areas along the Limpopo and Incomati rivers.
The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this false-color image (bands 7-2-1) of floodwaters coursing down the two rivers on January 25, 2026 (right). The image on the left, captured by the Terra satellite, shows the same area on December 17, 2025, before the flooding. A natural-color version of the image shows thick plumes of water rich in suspended sediment flowing down the rivers and into the Mozambique Channel.
Flooding has affected at least 600,000 people, displaced hundreds of thousands, and destroyed or damaged at least 30,000 homes, according to Mozambique’s National Disasters Management Institute, though it’s likely the numbers will increase due to ongoing search and rescue operations. Some of the hardest-hit cities include Maputo, Xai-Xai, and ChĂłkwè.
Agriculture officials report the flooding of at least 180,000 hectares (440,000 acres) of crops and the loss of more than 150,000 head of livestock. Health experts are warning of elevated risk of cholera, diarrhea, and other waterborne diseases, and authorities from at least one city have reported crocodile attacks.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Adam Voiland.
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