Nasa provides a heavenly perspective on the destruction of Dineo

NASA has released a satellite photo of Tropical Cyclone Dineo and a satellite-generated 3D image of the torrential rain it unleashed on north-eastern South Africa.

Dineo made landfall in southern Mozambique late on Wednesday‚ and by Friday — when Nasa’s Terra satellite passed overhead — it had weakened to a low pressure area.

• These 4 videos you are watching are NOT from #DineoAs Cyclone Dineo moved through southern Africa, social media has inevitably been flooded with shocking images and videos showing the chaos it has wreaked - but you shouldn't believe everything you see.  

But on Thursday‚ when the agency’s global precipitation measurement satellite was overhead‚ it found that a few powerful storms over Swaziland were dropping precipitation at a rate of over 86mm per hour.

On Friday‚ the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer aboard Terra captured a visible image that showed the centre of the low pressure area over Zimbabwe and clouds extending over southern Mozambique‚ Swaziland‚ eastern Botswana and north-eastern South Africa.

• Botswana next on Dineo's radarHeavy rains are expected to continue on Friday in parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo as tropical depression Dineo makes her way out of the country and into Botswana tomorrow. 

Nasa said radar was used to create a 3-D structure of rainfall within Dineo. The storm was more than 16km high beore the tropical cyclone came ashore in Mozambique. The tallest storm top heights in rain bands over Swaziland were 13.6km.

Disaster agencies said Dineo killed seven people‚ injured 55 and displaced more than 100‚000 in southern Mozambique‚ natural disasters agencies said Friday.

The impact was greatest in the btourist areas of Inhambane and Vilanculos‚ up to 200mm of rain fell and winds reached more than 100km/h.

• Cyclone fizzles out to ex-DineoThe first day of the much talked-about Cyclone Dineo started on a somewhat graceful low key yesterday but left damage in neighbouring Mozambique. 

The International Red Cross said 130‚000 people were displaced by the storm‚ while 22‚000 homes were partially or completely destroyed.

The storm also damaged 49 hospitals and health centres and 105 schools and public buildings.

(With AFP)

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE