Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS) module supports Hurricane Helene response on Blue Ridge Parkway

Road damage along Blue Ridge Parkway.

NPS/T RAND

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 Hurricane on September 26, 2024, and by the next day quickly moved north into North Carolina as a post-tropical cyclone. Its arrival in western North Carolina followed several days of saturating rain to the region. The storm devastated the area with up to 30 inches of rain in localized areas and peak sustained winds up to 60 miles per hour. It severely impacted the Blue Ridge Parkway (BLRI), prompting the entire 469 miles of roadway in Virginia and North Carolina to remain closed following the storm.

The National Park Service Eastern Incident Management Team (EIMT) was deployed in response. Once the team was mobilized and on location, the EIMT requested a small Uncrewed Aerial System (sUAS) module to gather information quickly and safely related to damage incurred at the park. A two-person sUAS module from Acadia National Park responded, traveling to Cherokee, North Carolina.

Damage found during infrastructure assessment.

NPS/T RAND

The Acadia sUAS module’s mission was to start from the southern end of the park working north, as possible, to document infrastructure damage. Park and incident crews were beginning to clear administrative access by cutting thousands of trees, with progress varying based on conditions. Some days, road crews were able to cover up to 75 miles of roads, but other days progress was limited to 0.75 miles due to the number of trees that had fallen across the road.

Critical communications infrastructure assessment

NPS/T RAND

Initial incident objectives related to employee and visitor safety, and re-establishing communications and access. The incident team then began to document damage, both to guide continued incident operations, and to develop objectives for on-the-ground assessment teams across the Parkway’s vast road mileage. Once deployed, the sUAS team was able to access damaged areas and document the extensive damage to roads, campgrounds, visitor centers and critical infrastructure such as communication towers and well houses. Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout stated “The early deployment of sUAS resources in the field allowed for real-time mission evolution to best deploy other resources safely on the ground. It also limited the need for higher levels of crewed aviation asset deployment." The sUAS module briefed IMT and park officials daily about damage documented the day before, providing high-resolution still images and videos that were instrumental in planning incident operations and supporting eventual project development and recovery.

Over the first nine operational days, the Acadia sUAS Module flew 76 flights at 56 mission locations. These flights logged 10.6 hours of combined flight time with the average flight lasting eight minutes. Most of these flights were centered on landslides located above or below the roadway. The module documented 21 of the more than 30 slides that were found to have impacted the roadway. Slides ranged in severity, but many included catastrophic losses of roadway. Park managers worked with incident command to set objectives for the sUAS module to gather data on nearly all primary infrastructure including the volume of damage. The large area of storm impacts necessitated a second 14-day sUAS module deployment to continue assessments. The second module was dispatched from Grand Teton National Park.

Member of sUAS module shows NPS Director Chuck Sams the uncrewed aircraft dashboard for assessments.

NPS

Key successes for the sUAS mission included:

• Rapid assessment of park areas inaccessible due to road damage;
• Rapid review of data by IMT and park officials allowed expedited mission prioritization, as well as efficiency and effectiveness;
• Mission deliverables linked to maps provided basis for post-incident recovery work, including placement of barriers, prioritization of damage assessments, and prioritization of field visits;
• Mission deliverables supported follow-on development of project cost estimates for disaster recovery phase;
• Critical viewshed and aerial perspective orthographic landslide imagery that due to steep topography could not have been gathered let alone discovered at ground level.

The module traveled from Acadia with three drones, two Skydio X-10s and a Parrot Anafi and both platforms were used during the incident. The Skydios provided great photographs, videos, and Ortho mosaic renderings of some of the more significantly damaged sections of roads. Operational success was a direct result of vital support from not only the park management team and the IMT, but the Northeast Regional Office (DOI Region 1), including the regional aviation manager (RAM) and deputy regional aviation manager (DRAM). The DRAM, being local to the area and a sUAS pilot, provided the module with a large battery, enabling them to charge sUAS batteries, laptops, and radios and ensuring ongoing situational awareness. Mark Pita, the regional chief ranger for Northeast Region, was assigned as the Operations Chief on the EIMT. His support and encouragement were fundamental to the module’s success as well.

Incident management team GIS dashboard for assessments completed via sUAS.

NPS/T RAND

The post-Hurricane Helene recovery will continue for quite some time for BLRI. To help the park organize the materials created by the sUAS module, the IMT GIS Specialist (GISS) created a file structure to store the data based on mile marker. This will make the data usable for any IMT as well as park staff for years to come. Superintendent Swartout concluded “Simply put, rapid deployment of sUAS assets, and strong damage assessment documentation linked to a solid GIS framework is a gift that supported incident operations and sets the park up well for the next phase related to re-establishing public access, keeping people safe, and planning for recovery.”

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Launching, landing, operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of the Blue Ridge Parkway is prohibited. Private and/or Recreational UAV use requests will not be approved.

- 36 CFR §1.5 Visiting Hours, Public Use Limits, Closures, and Area Designations for Specific Use of Activities

Use of unmanned aircraft for administrative activities may be permitted under the authority of the superintendent. These include “activities conducted under the authority of the NPS for the purpose of safeguarding persons or property, implementing management plans and policies consistent with regulations in 36 C.F.R. or repairing or maintaining government facilities. This may include data collection, natural, cultural, or structural assessments, monitoring for scientific study, All Hazard incident, or law enforcement actions. Wildland fire and search and rescue in some cases may also be considered an administrative use of sUAS.”

- Reference Manual 60, Chapter 12: Uncrewed Aircraft Systems