The Horn of Africa frequently sees heavy precipitation during El Niño periods. In late November 2006, southern Somalia and eastern Ethiopia were experiencing severe flooding that displaced hundreds of thousands of people. These two astronaut photographs show the same coastal region in Somalia, south of the capital of Mogadishu, providing a visual contrast between wet and normal conditions.
As the Space Shuttle Atlantis passed over southern Egypt in mid-March 2001, the STS-102 astronauts were able to document new flooding in the Toshka region west of Lake Nasser. The formation of the Toshka Lakes in southern Egypt is part of Egypt’s New Valley Project. The flooding of the region has been monitored by astronauts since 1998, and continues to show rapid changes.