Moreover, Mr. Read’s understatement – the entire post is three short grafs and two images – makes his post more affecting, rather than less.

Here’s a NASA image of the affected area as of August 14, 2009 (Mr. Read, without saying so, anticipates speculation that this caused by seasonal variation):

2009 image

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One year and one day later, August 15th, 2010:

Max Read’s exemplary post, The Satellite Pics of Pakistan’s Devastasting Floods, from Gawker.com