Jagersfontein dam before
The South African National Space Agency (Sansa) has released satellite imagery following the Jagersfontein tailings dam burst, in the Free State, on September 11, which caused damage to property and resulted in the loss of lives.
The intelligence derived from Sansa’s earth observation satellite data can now be accessed by the National Disaster Management Centre, local authorities and affected businesses to aid them in the disaster response efforts and to quantify the damage caused by floods.
Data is being analysed by Sansa to map the extent of damage to property and infrastructure in the flood-affected areas.
Intelligence derived from the satellite imagery will aid in conducting post-flooding disaster quantification and will support the estimation of overall damage, thereby indicating the importance of such data in government response efforts.
Sansa said the information was critical for government and business alike to establish the financial requirements and priority areas to focus on to ensure the saving of lives and to limit the economic impact, as well as to facilitate improved planning at municipalities going forward.
Sansa’s developed disaster management tools can provide relevant authorities with early warning of floods and information on high-risk flooding areas. Sansa also has the capability to monitor flooding and provide authorities with relevant satellite imagery to assist with post-flood disaster management.