An article by Dronelife.com shares:
Despite all predictions to the contrary, western North Carolina was especially hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, which after making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 27 tore a path of destruction through Georgia and roared through the southern Appalachian Mountain region as a tropical storm, dumping record-breaking amounts of rainfall across the region.
The historic rainfall caused massive flooding as several rivers and creeks in the region overflowed and inundated numerous communities. Mudslides and landslides destroyed highway infrastructure, leaving many areas cut off from power, transportation and communications. The storm and its aftereffects resulted in an estimated 96 deaths in North Carolina, and Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration estimated the damages would total at least $53 billion.
Aaron Schradin, the cofounder and CEO of software company Virtual Sandtable, said the flooding presented unique challenges to local disaster responders. The company volunteered its services to provide drone-based mapping and photogrammetry services to aid emergency workers in the area around Spruce Pines, N.C., in the wake of the storm.
The scale of the destruction presented a unique set of problems for local emergency management organizations, Schradin said. Most North Carolina-based first responders with hurricane recovery experience had obtained it through providing aid to other regions, such as Florida or New Orleans, not in their own backyard. “They’re not typically handling such disaster responses at home,” he said.
Yet, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, these community-based workers rose to the challenge, coordinating relief efforts and marshalling the services of volunteer helpers, like Virtual Sandtable and other drone-based groups, that came in from all over the country, before federal relief efforts were able to get well under way.
Soaring to new heights, together.
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