Flood in Northern Syria after collapse of the Zeyzoun Dam, June 2005

On Tuesday the Zeyzoun dam in northern Syria ruptured and collapsed, killing 20 people and leaving thousands more homeless. This series of true and false-color images taken on June 3 (before flood) and June 5 and 7, 2002 (after), by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite show the extent of the flooding. Normally, there would be no water present in the center of the image. After the dam burst, however, 71 million cubic meters flowed onto the surrounding landscape and washed over an area of 20,000 acres. Hundreds of homes were destroyed in and around the villages of Zeyzoun, Qastoun, and Ziara, roughly 220 miles (350 kilometers) north of Damascus. Most of the residents fled to higher ground with the help of two helicopters. The Syrians originally constructed the dam to contain the Orontes River and provide a steady flow of water to the surrounding farms, many of which were lost. Rescue workers worry that more bodies may be found as the waters of the dam recede. The Japanese government issued over $40,000 in aid for the victims, and the Syrian government is petitioning international aid agencies for further assistance. In this false-color image, the ground is sage green and rusty orange, and water is black. Clouds appear pink.

	This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
	Warnings: Use of NASA logos, insignia and emblems is restricted per U.S. law 14 CFR 1221. The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not necessarily in the public domain. Materials based on Hubble Space Telescope data may be copyrighted if they are not explicitly produced by the STScI.[1] See also {{PD-Hubble}} and {{Cc-Hubble}}. The SOHO (ESA & NASA) joint project implies that all materials created by its probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2] Images featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) web site may be copyrighted. [3] The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) site has been known to host copyrighted content. Its photo gallery FAQ states that all of the images in the photo gallery are in the public domain "Unless otherwise noted."