Post-Hurricane Irene Sediment Clouds Hudson River and New York Harbor

This NASA satellite image, taken after Hurricane Irene deluged the New York City area with heavy rains, shows massive amounts of sediment mixing with the darker waters of New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the pale green, brown, and tan sediment visible in this image came from the Hudson River and its tributaries, which drain parts of upstate New York and Vermont that experienced severe flooding. The color of the water varies depending on the amount and type of sediment. A single major event like Irene can move and deposit as much silt, sand, and mud as might occur during several years of regular flow on the Hudson, said David Ralston of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Similar sediment plumes also occurred in Delaware Bay and along the Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina coasts in the storm’s aftermath.