Doris Maricle

KINDER — Drones are helping the town and a local drainage district spot storm damage following two major hurricanes last year.

Parker Cole, director of Safework CM of Baton Rouge, updated town officials and drainage board members Monday on the storm damage and drainage debris assessment currently underway.

“We are using some state-of-the-art technology here in Kinder with drones to identify the debris and get it removed very quickly and very cost-effective,” Cole said.

During a presentation on the project, Cole showed actual drone footage of debris, including large trees, in ditches in the Kinder area.

The drones are used to identify and locate debris much quicker using GPS coordinates than having “boots on the ground,” he said.

“This drone can identify stuff really fast instead of having someone walking around, so we are going to be able to save a lot of time and save the town a lot of money with this drone,” Cole said.

The company is also working with Bayou Blue Drainage District and the Allen Parish Police Jury to help identify and clear debris from their drainage systems.

“Once we identify it, we can get someone to come in and remove it and get the ditches flowing and clean again,” Cole said.

Information collected by the drone can help the hauler to better locate the debris to be removed.

“This is going to allow us to expedite the process and identify the debris that is in the area in a most more cost-effective manner than having to send people out walking these canals, taking pictures and identifying the debris, we are able to fly to identify where there is debris and where there is not so we can focus and maximum our efforts,” John Kropog, vice president of disaster recovery for SafeworkCM said.

For debris to be removed from waterways it must be a threat to the health and safety of the public and the economic recovery of improved property, farmland, roads or bridges.

Kropog is also working with the town to recoup the cost for the debris removal and damages to the library, police station, community center, city park and street signs.

“We met with FEMA and got to the point where we are moving from the data-gathering and information-gathering steps and now are in the part where the project grants have been written and FEMA is starting to submit all the work so we will be able to start seeing some action soon,” Kropog said.

The town should begin receiving some reimbursements for disaster recovery within the next 30-60 days, he said.

“Once these projects are approved and we start working on the actual damages caused by the hurricanes we can move into the Hazard Mitigation Grant program and the Community Development Block grants disaster recovery programs which will allow for us to meet unmet needs and items that were not directly damaged by the storm,” Kropog said.

Unmet needs can include generators and drainage improvements to prevent damage from future events, he said.

“We had a really good meeting with FEMA this week and were told everything is moving good,” he said.”I’m very excited about the process being made. Normally these things take six to nine months, depending on the severity and we are coming up on that 180 day mark at the of this month, so we are really happy with the process. We should start seeing results soon.”Drone

MGNonline