Hurricane MAILA-26 Building Damage Assessment for Ranongga Island, Solomon Islands

Approximately 320 damaged and 370 potentially damaged buildings were identified on Ranongga Island following Hurricane MAILA-26. The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) produced this preliminary damage assessment using Pleiades very high-resolution satellite imagery acquired on 15 April 2026, supported by aerial imagery for validation. This analysis, dated 29 April 2026, has not yet been validated through field verification.

Use Cases

• Prioritize emergency response and recovery efforts based on the location of damaged buildings.
• Validate and calibrate automated building damage detection algorithms using the satellite-based damage classifications.
• Assess the spatial distribution and intensity of hurricane damage across Ranongga Island.
• Support insurance and loss estimation modeling for the affected region.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on Pleiades very high-resolution satellite imagery, suggesting detailed visual data.
• Provides specific counts of approximately 320 damaged and 370 potentially damaged buildings.
• Produced by the authoritative United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

Limitations

• The analysis is preliminary and explicitly noted as not yet validated by field verification.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.

Provenance

Source

United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)

Collection Method

Damage identification primarily using Pleiades very high-resolution satellite imagery, supported by aerial imagery for validation.

Time Range

Imagery acquired on 15 April 2026; analysis published 29 April 2026.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-29 10:35:37.581001; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Ranongga Island, Western Province, Solomon Islands.