In September 2017, Category 4 storm Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico head-on
The storm caused the longest electricity black-out in U.S. history
A new NASA study mapped Puerto Rico’s slow recovery using night lights satellite data
Lights before the storm
Lights after the storm
Four months after the storm
Six months after the storm
This high-resolution imagery was created with three powerful
data sets that monitored the absence of electricity
41 percent of the long-duration power outages
that occurred post-Maria happened in rural areas
29 percent of the long-duration power outages occurred in urban areas
Puerto Rico’s energy grid directs all power to prioritized locations, like urban centers,
rather than by proximity to the nearest power plant
Imaging the absence of electricity from space offers a new way to visualize
impacts to Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable communities
The next step will be to sync-up Black Marble night lights data
with updated information on community lifelines
Which can help local governments and first responders
identify at-risk areas and allocate resources