A horde of drones swirled off Staten Island to assist would-be water-rescuers Tuesday as part of the largest-ever coastal storm drill — in preparation for the next potential Superstorm Sandy.
The city’s Drone Task Force used groundbreaking technology to carry out a mock extensive search-and-rescue mission through the condemned Seaview Children’s Hospital, which was pummeled by the historic and destructive hurricane in 2012.
The massive exercise marked the first time the FDNY, NYPD and city Department of Emergency Management worked together to use their individual Unmanned Aerial Systems technology for an emergency-operation exercise.
“From this exercise, we’re hoping to come out with policies and procedures to better operate at a real-life event like this,” task-force exercise coordinator Jose Rolon said.
The simulation occurred after six months of intensive planning — and coincidentally followed the deadly devastation that Hurricane Helene laid bare in the southeast this past weekend.
Drones will be used as the “eyes” of rescuers before they enter what can be a dangerous situation, authorities said. For example, drones can detect a collapsed floor before first responders enter a damaged building.
The real-time information collection can expedite life-saving measures and ensure that resources are being funneled where they are needed the most, officials said.
“We’re testing the connectivity and their tactical equipment so … the drones [are] flying indoors, dropping emergency flotation devices for someone in distress,” Rolon said.
“We want to do it all at the same time and make sure that we could all put in the unity and effort and make sure we’re all working together.”
For Tuesday’s drill, the first task was flying the drones through the hospital to find victims.”
The NYCEM, NYPD and FDNY set up individual command sites out of the trunk of their cars, which were equipped with several computer screens displaying HD-quality video of the drones’ point of view. Each command post has its own “super Wi-Fi” that staves off connectivity issues, even when there’s an outage.
The UAS maneuvered through the condemned building and located all the “victims” without responders stepping foot inside.
Next, another set of drones with different features was used to break through hurricane glass — which was successfully done after just a few taps.
A set of drones was also used to locate “victims’ in the water before activating floating devices.
The drones also provide other tactical features such as the use of virtual-reality goggles to get a first-person perspective from the drone. The drones now also have speakers that are able to relay loud messages in 80 languages. Another addition is spotlights on drones.
Rolon said during the drill, “It’s going great. I think we’re going to learn a lot, and I think we’re going to grow a lot from this.”
FDNY Capt. George Farinacci said, “These devices are all finicky. There’s certainly obstacles, but again, if this works at all, it’s going to save multiples of the time that we spend making it work. 100% this will help rescue response.”
The exercise comes ahead of the 12th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, which killed 147 people, including 44 New York City residents.
Over the course of 48 hours, wind, rain, and water destroyed approximately 300 homes, left hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without power, damaged critical public and private infrastructure, and left many New Yorkers vulnerable with limited access to food, drinking water, healthcare, and other critical services, according to the city.
It was widely considered the most devastating hurricane in the continental US.
Sandy ignited one of the largest mobilizations of public services in history — but suffered serious issues that inspired the creation of the interagency Drone Task Force.
“Some of the biggest challenges is always with communications and interoperability,” Rolon said. “Everyone has their own systems, their own channels that they operate on. So what we wanted to do was bring something where we could all work together on the same channel, speaking the same language, using the same equipment. And that’s what we’re trying to do here today.”
