Satellite photos show dramatic flooding in Mankato, southern Minnesota

Before-and-after satellite imagery of Mankato and other parts of southern Minnesota show swollen rivers and green areas swallowed by murky brown water.

The photos, provided by the satellite image company Planet Labs, lay plain the extent of Minnesota’s flooding this month, which has covered roads, parks, farm fields and nearly collapsed the Rapidan Dam.

Two sets of photos from Planet Labs show the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers in Mankato and Henderson. Here’s Henderson on June 10, when the Minnesota River had a gauge height of 731 feet:

And here’s the same area June 24, with the river’s gauge height at 739 feet, just about tying a record set in 1965, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That record may have been broken Friday, with water levels reaching 740 feet.

That qualifies as a “major flood,” according to NOAA.

Here’s Mankato on June 7, where the Blue Earth River, from the south, meets the Minnesota River, heading east-west. That day, the Minnesota River’s water level rested at 18 feet.

On June 24, the water level ranged from 27 to 29 feet, according to NOAA, just shy of the “major flooding” category and a record of 30.1 feet, set in 1993.