Destroyed House
Damaged Roof
Damaged House

Hurricanes, tornados, floods and other disasters can cause significant damage to all types of structures. No one is immune to the forces of nature. A ground level view of a property can only reveal part of the damage. You need some elevation to get the full picture. Typically ladders are used to get a higher viewpoint. Ladders can be clumsy to work with and dangerous to climb. They also need to be moved a lot to cover the full area of interest. Other resources for elevated angles include lift trucks and traditional aircraft. Both these options can be very expensive and time consuming.

The answer to all these limitations is Drones! Drones are small remotely controlled unmanned aircraft equipped with high resolution still and video cameras. The remote pilot and spotter guide the drone into the precise location and capture the desired photos/videos. Since the drone is small, stable and very maneuverable it can be flown to the exact position needed. The pilot monitors the cameras and can adjust each angle with ease. Drones can go where it would be difficult, dangerous, or impossible for a person to go.

This walkway of a horse barn was severely damaged by rain water runoff. We needed to show the extent of the erosion but it was much too dangerous for a person to walk in the area. The drone was flown at a low height with the camera angled down at the ground. We flew the entire length of the walkway in a matter of minutes, capturing all the damage in photographs without risk to a person walking on this extremely unstable ground.

The drone can be flown with great precision to capture every detail of a structure. Some damage areas are so severe that it would be extremely dangerous if not impossible to use traditional methods. The roof in this photo probably would not have supported someone trying to stand on it. The edges looked too fragile even for a ladder, and the location was not accessible for a bucket truck or lift. In a matter of minutes the drone was able to get a wide view of the area as well as closeups of the damage.