Late September 2024 witnessed a nightmare for the residents of North Carolina, the US. A devastating storm, Hurricane Helene, rampaged through streams and rivers, causing immense damage and leaving behind the remains of people who tragically passed away.

The category 4 hurricane hit hard despite all predictions, leading to record-breaking amounts of rainfall across Florida region. Highway infrastructure was also destroyed, impacting transportations, communications, and power lines. Unfortunately, the storm resulted in 96 deaths and an estimated loss of $53 billion (Around €49 billion).

Drones helped assess the aftermath of the hurricane

Cofounder and CEO of company called Virtual Sandtable, Aaron Schradin, claimed that his company offered its services to local emergencies by providing drones with mapping and photogrammetry capabilities. Despite the challenges the hurricane has caused, drones were useful in the aftermath and helped assess the areas affected. eBee TAC mapping drones and other UAVs were deployed by Schradin´s team, along with other equipment from AgEagle Aerial Systems, to conduct aerial analysis of the affected areas.

Aaron Schradin quotes: `Some of our team was there before the rain stopped. They are residents of North Carolina. One individual, Brian Clark, was there setting up camp and figuring out how to get supplies in and out before the rain stopped and the waters went down,´.

The eBee Tac drones assisted heavily through search patterns that covered large areas in a short time, thanks to the PingUSB equipment that helped Schradin´s team monitor the ADS-B feeds from the drone that was deployed in the affected area. Using the data collected from the drones, first responders had a clear vision of where should their focus be.

CEO of AgEagle, Bill Irby, talked about his company´s assistance by stating that he was proud of this operation. He added: `We’re just really excited to be able to be used for these types of missions. There’s nothing better than providing real-world help to a person in need.´

Bill highlighted that AgEagle´s eBee TAC aircrafts are perfectly compatible with these type of operations and recovery missions as they have high endurance and are able to fly for 90 minutes on a single battery charge. In addition, the eBee TAC aircraft can be operated throughout the day or night, thanks to its thermal detection and normal RGB video.

He adds: `It’s very easy to utilize these systems,” he said. “Because they’re much less expensive than some typical aircraft is another reason that you’re going to find a lot more use of them for these types of disasters´.

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