In 2013, when super-typhoon Haiyan struck in the central
Phillipines, the destruction was unimaginable with 6,340 fatalities. One of the strongest tropical cyclones ever
recorded, the wake of destruction was one in which UAVs played an interesting
role in assessing the damage. Because
government aid would not be issued without an assessment of the damage, a Prescott,
Arizona based company called Swift Radioplanes, LLC was able to create aerial
maps of the damage. In the course of
seven days, the team used two Lynx Unmanned Aerial Systems to gather thousands
of high-resolution images that were composited into maps for use in the
Philippine government.
It unfortunate to consider that people living in these
hard-hit villages would have otherwise waited for long spans of time to receive
any aid. Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) needed to have some situational awareness in order to carry out planning
of aid camps, and to get aerial views of infrastructure damage such as downed
power lines, road damage, and any other hazards. UAVs were instrumental in planning emergency areas and relief distribution networks.
One challenge presenting itself to the UAV operators was
finding a launch and recovery site for fixed-wing UAVs. As an alternative, multi-rotor helicopter UAVs
were used.
Ultimately, the use of UAVs in the typhoon-devastated areas
proved to be a humanitarian success story since the satellite images that
existed for the area were outdated, blurry, and inadequate for the formation of
much-needed shelters.
