Nasa Pictures Show Twin Cities With Lights Out After Fani

Bhubaneswar: Nasa has released images of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack with lights out in the aftermath of cyclone Fani, which tore through coastal districts of the state at wind speeds of 200kmph after making landfall on the morning of May 3.

The images show where the lights went out. One can see the cities being lit up on April 30 (before Fani) and again on May 5, two days after Fani. The storm destroyed several transmission towers and uprooted around 156,000 utility poles.

The first set of images are of Bhubaneswar, where power is likely to be restored fully by mid-May.

The second set of images show nighttime lights in Cuttack, which is to the north of Bhubaneswar.

These images were made from data acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite. Scientists from Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Marshall Space Flight Center processed and corrected the raw VIIRS data to filter out stray light from natural sources and from atmospheric interference, such as dust, haze, and thin clouds.