UAVs in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan

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areas proved to be a humanitarian success story since the satellite images that existed for the area were outdated, blurry, and inadequate for the formation of much-needed shelters.