Drone Teams Being Recruited To Help With Damage Assessments

Drones will be instrumental in helping assess the damage caused by hurricane Florence, which struck the North Carolina coast over the weekend and is continuing to cause widespread flooding across a broad area of the country.

SF Gate reports that Brien Reil, a spokesman for the Washington-based industry group Edison Electric Institute said that at least 53 teams have been recruited to help with the damage assessment.

Drones are being employed by Duke Energy Corp and Southern Co. that are equipped with infrared and high-zoom sensors for missions such as inspecting substations, identifying malfunctioning solar panels. and downed power lines.

But hobby drone operators are being advised to keep their aircraft on the ground. "We don't want people to fly these drones and put people's lives and properties at risk," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said during a news conference last Friday.

Insurance companies say they will also be using unmanned aircraft to assess property damage. For example, Travelers Cos. has nearly 600 trained drone pilots under contract, according to the company's vice president for property claims Jim Wucherpfennig.

He said the use of drones will be a "key piece of our response here for Florence."

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report