Hurricane Relief

[PatR]

Indeed, and as outsiders that weren’t invited they would have low priority. When conditions are bad the disaster crews have to function like military personnel deployed down range. Totally self sufficient in all things. Bring a small shovel as you may find your toilet facilities to be less than comfortable. Of course there’s the option of bagging it and carrying it with you...

Lots of those little things turn every day stuff into an ordeal.

 

[rdonson]

Here's an email I received this afternoon from the FCC

 

[AH-1G]

Indeed, and as outsiders that weren’t invited they would have low priority. When conditions are bad the disaster crews have to function like military personnel deployed down range. Totally self sufficient in all things. Bring a small shovel as you may find your toilet facilities to be less than comfortable. Of course there’s the option of bagging it and carrying it with you...

Lots of those little things turn every day stuff into an ordeal.

Yep, Army taught me a lot. However it can be hostile after a hurricane event.
Your going to have to protect yourself, as Pat mentioned or have a body guard.
This is the protection you need.
BTW this is my son Deputy Sheriff

 

[rdonson]

Rdonson
STAY SAFE
Hopefully your away from the coast. I have family in Beaufort. SC and they have evacuated.
In a similar post, they are looking for drone pilots to assist in aftermath issues.
Very dangerous situations. Especially if areas get 30 inches of rain. Flooding is actually the worse part of a hurricane. The water turns toxic almost instantly, which in turn affects the atmosphere.
We can only hope things don’t get catastrophic

Thank you! I am away from the coast but the weather forecast keeps changing and that changes the winds and rain that are forecast for my area of NC (north of Charlotte). Lots of rain and wind will wreak havoc in NC due to the trees that are prevalent. Trees fall and take out power.

Its still too early to truly understand where the eye is going to come ashore and what will happen as the outer layer of Florence makes contact with land. It can still go anywhere. Eastern NC is largely coastal low land with lots of nasty things like pig farms, chicken and turkey farms that have huge pools of waste that get washed into the rivers along with animal carcasses creating havoc.

I was here for Hurricane Hugo and that was a total mess for a very long time. It almost wiped Charleston, SC from the map and then headed north. We don't want/need a repeat of that. Hurricanes here are NOT pretty things.

IMHO FEMA simply isn't sufficiently funded to handle things like this after last year.

 

[PatR]

Perhaps if FEMA unloaded all their useless staff and employed people experienced in strategic planning they would have more available funding to effectively handle situations. From all I've seen FEMA is little more than a cluster flik bordering on FUBAR. It's much too easy to place critical supplies before a weather event than afterwards. You also have things like water, MRE's, and blankets on hand for distribution immediately after storm passage instead of days or weeks later.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Perhaps if FEMA unloaded all their useless staff and employed people experienced in strategic planning they would have more available funding to effectively handle situations. From all I've seen FEMA is little more than a cluster flik bordering on FUBAR. It's much too easy to place critical supplies before a weather event than afterwards. You also have things like water, MRE's, and blankets on hand for distribution immediately after storm passage instead of days or weeks later.

Oh NO! Not more fake news... sitting there for a year

Happy Birthday to Puerto Rico's FEMA Bottled Water

 

[rdonson]

I think there is more to FEMA than you think. Talk to someone who's in FEMA. Don't listen to the politicians on either side. There is too much BS there. Most of the "troops" needed for a disaster are NOT staff FEMA employees. They are in essence temps paid very little. Talk to someone higher up in FEMA and you may find out that their budgets are reduced by the congressional budget process after they haven't had a disaster for a year. That's no way to run this agency and expect the best results.

The cluster flik and FUBAR is our government in action screwing up FEMA. With stable funding I think things would be a LOT better with FEMA.

To err is human. To really mess things up you need congress who has different things on their mind.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Willie the Shake said it best... Kill all the lawyers...

 

[PatR]

A little harsh. Perhaps tar and feathering would get the point across as well.

 

[Steve Carr]

From Search and Rescue Drones on Facebook:

ATTN: SWARM/SAR Members:
As #Florence impacts NC and surrounding areas, #drone hobbyists need to stay out of the skies! REMEMBER: Emergency management agencies need to be able to fly safely to perform evacuations, monitor damage, and other essential response efforts. REMEMBER: No Drones in Disaster Zones!!!

Note:
The FAA recently said on a conference call with NC/SC EMA that they will close the airspace after the storm. They are not planning on issuing TFR waivers after what happened in Texas/Florida last year with a company that was deploying people into the disaster zones causing airspace conflicts. The only exception will be for manned aircraft and a direct threat to human life."

Your wish to assist is admirable but flawed. You are too late in the game to be part of the effort. You must join a legitimate SAR organization well in advance and respond to a request for assistance by completing an application which also requires you to provide documentation of your equipment and your ability to support all the needs for your group. Then you wait to see if you are contacted as a needed resource. Stay home to avoid gumming up the works.

There are other ways to support search efforts. Some groups film a given area and then upload the video or pics to a server. After it's uploaded, hundreds of volunteer sitting at home begin scanning the material for victims, pets or anything that needs a follow up. The photo is tagged and the spot is circled and noted on the server. The field personnel then do a follow up based on the GPS co-ords. The whole process is very fast and much more efficient than a thousand drones flying around aimlessly. I've have been and continue to help in such a program.

Dearest Yuneec Pilots,

The campus of Middle Tennessee State University is working on sending a group of UAS Students and Staff to NC in the wake of this incoming Hurricane. We are going to try and help with relief efforts,search and rescue, and home damage utilizing our drones. If you have any thoughts or ideas you may have that would help us, it would greatly help our cause! Thanks

We will be using a Falcon,Inspire2, HPlus and others

 

[Darksmile]

Just for my curious interests in the drone industry, what "Falcon" are you refering to?
A Asctec Falcon 8?

 

[biltno]

Hopefully now that the storm has weakened some the rainfall will be less. At this point the rain is a bigger concern than the wind. Those of us in the states remember hurricane Katrina that turned New Orleans into a cesspool. The people had no where to go for weeks. Something I’ll never forget

 

[rdonson]

@biltno

Perhaps less wind speed but its still wind at dangerous levels. Nobody should feel safer because the wind speeds drop from 100+ to 75 or 80 mph. Rainfall in the coastal areas may not be less especially if the storm stalls as predicted. The storm is forecast to hang in over the coast for 3 high tides and that will wreak havoc.

I'll never forget the havoc Hurricane Hugo wreaked in the Carolinas. We all remember most vividly the hurricanes we personally experienced.

The Weather Channel on TV is doing an amazing job of reporting what's going on.

Where I live the rain and wind forecast has remained about the same. We'll get through it but we have to be aware that we'll get enough rain to make it easy for trees to be uprooted by the wind. Many areas here are already saturated and creeks are higher.

 

[biltno]

@biltno

Perhaps less wind speed but its still wind at dangerous levels. Nobody should feel safer because the wind speeds drop from 100+ to 75 or 80 mph. Rainfall in the coastal areas may not be less especially if the storm stalls as predicted. The storm is forecast to hang in over the coast for 3 high tides and that will wreak havoc.

I'll never forget the havoc Hurricane Hugo wreaked in the Carolinas. We all remember most vividly the hurricanes we personally experienced.

The Weather Channel on TV is doing an amazing job of reporting what's going on.

Where I live the rain and wind forecast has remained about the same. We'll get through it but we have to be aware that we'll get enough rain to make it easy for trees to be uprooted by the wind. Many areas here are already saturated and creeks are higher.

I agree but I would still take the 110 winds over 130 or 140. Like you said it’s still going to be a very serious situation. I seen the damage Hugo caused to the coastline in South Carolina and I was just blown away imagining how the level of that oocean could have ever gotten that high. It was unbelievable. In some areas it changed the landscape forever

 

[biltno]

Rdonson
Just looked at Wilmington radar and it looks like the south side of the eyewall is filling back in which is a sign of strengthening. The storm also got much wider.
STAY SAFE and if your real lucky you won’t loose power

 

[rdonson]

@biltno , my next door neighbor was able to borrow a 6KW gasoline generator yesterday. With luck we won't need it. All services are underground where I live but that doesn't mean that something won't take out the power elsewhere that will affect us.

When I lived in Alaska (Aleutian Islands) I could NOT discern the difference between 90 and 140 mph winds. The anemometers could but I couldn't. They were all howling wind you didn't want to experience first hand.

 

[PatR]

Be sure to check total load demands for everything you want to plug into a generator and limit the load to essentials. Always test run generators before they are needed to assure they will function correctly. Have a spray can of ether on hand for hard to start generators.

 

[rdonson]

Be sure to check total load demands for everything you want to plug into a generator and limit the load to essentials. Always test run generators before they are needed to assure they will function correctly. Have a spray can of ether on hand for hard to start generators.

Thanks, Pat

 

[PatR]

You’re welcome. You won’t believe the number of times me and others have gone to use a generator only to find it wouldn’t start, was out of fuel, low on oil, was missing a 220 adapter when 220 was to be delivered, lacked extra power strips and extension cords. It’s the little things that can end up big problems at the worst possible times.

 

[AH-1G]

Hurricane Florence Update

**Please Pay Particular Attention to the Email Reply Protocol Below**

Thank you for responding to our call for drone pilots in the wake of Hurricane Florence. We are keeping a close eye on the storm’s activity and want to update you on the status of the pilot program.

We are fortunate to have a high level of interest from pilots who live in or have traveled to the affected area. These pilots are considered Tier 1 and will be among the first contacted for work. We have collected all of their pertinent information and have verified that they meet our client’s specifications. If you live in or are in route to the affected area and have NOT been in contact with us recently about all of your specific information, please let us know.

Once the pilots who are in the affected area have been placed, we will move through our list, calling upon pilots who meet the same qualifications. Please ensure that you have provided us with the following information:
When can you start?

• 
  How long will it take you to be in Florence, South Carolina?
• (This is NOT the staging area. It is a reference point only!!)
  

How long can you be deployed?

• 
  What type of vehicle will you be driving?
  
• 
  Do you have insurance? If so, what is your coverage?
  

Please provide the following documents: Copy of your ID and Part 107 card.

• 
  Copy of Certificate of Completion and Number from the North Carolina UAS Operator Permit (click here to obtain one: https://eaviation.ncdot.gov/UAS/Home/Login)
  

**IMPORTANT EMAIL PROTOCOL**
Email To: [email protected]
Subject Line: DISASTER FLORENCE PILOT INFO

When sending in documents please use the above information for our email address and your message subject line. Doing so will prioritize your email to the right location and make sure we have what we need to deploy you for the relief efforts. Emails without the above settings will not receive the same priority and could delay your ability to be contracted.

If you have additional questions, please reply to this email at [email protected]