I had heard that FEMA shut those guys down who were using drones. I don't have the link to the article since I'm on my phone, but I think the gist of it was that they were up in arms about them using cameras.

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 17, 2013, at 8:31 AM, "Howard, W A 9 Y B W" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> The below was from the ARRL.
> 
> Howard #3
> 
> ARLB021 Amateur Radio Provides Critical Communication in Colorado
> Flooding Response
> 
> ZCZC AG21
> QST de W1AW =20
> ARRL Bulletin 21  ARLB021
> From ARRL Headquarters =20
> Newington CT  September 16, 2013
> To all radio amateurs=20
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB021
> ARLB021 Amateur Radio Provides Critical Communication in Colorado
> Flooding Response
> 
> More than five dozen Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
> volunteers have deployed in and around flood-stricken counties of
> Colorado, providing critical communication for Red Cross shelters
> and state and local emergency operation centers. Recent heavy rains
> have caused veritable mountainside tsunamis that have caused rivers
> and streams to overflow their banks, ravaged roads and property and
> displaced an undetermined number of residents. At least three people
> are known to have died. ARRL Colorado Section Manager Jack Ciaccia,
> WM0G, says that with power cut off to affected communities and many
> cell telephone towers along the Big Thompson River toppled by the
> flooding, ham radio is providing medical and health-and-welfare
> traffic between evacuation centers and the EOCs.
> 
> "Every EOC is being staffed by ARES people," Ciaccia told ARRL.
> "Almost every evacuation center has an ARES communicator, doing
> either voice or packet communications between EOCs and shelters."
> 
> The isolated towns of Estes Park, Lyons, and Jamestown were or still
> are relying solely on ham radio for contact with the outside.
> Jamestown has since been evacuated. "Everybody was huddled into the
> high school there," Ciaccia told ARRL. He was in contact with the
> mayor there and trying to get the community needed resources as soon
> as possible. Hams in Estes Park have been working out of the EOC in
> the Town Hall, which is on high ground. "There's no place to go.
> Everything's flooded," Ciaccia said. "The only ham in Lyons was
> working out of an evacuation center at the local elementary school."
> He said the National Guard has been relocating some evacuees, as the
> shelter has become overcrowded.
> 
> On Saturday, September 14, US Congressman Cory Gardner (R-4) visited
> the state emergency operation center to express his appreciation to
> the Amateur Radio operators responding to the historic flooding
> disaster. Rep Gardner asked Colorado Section Emergency Coordinator
> Robert Wareham, N0ESQ, to extend his thanks to all ARES members
> staffing positions in the field as well.
> 
> Boulder County has deployed miniature drone aircraft carrying
> Amateur TV cameras to survey the affected, more remote regions, for
> now to spot individuals who may need to be rescued. "We're still in
> a search-and-rescue mode," Ciaccia said, "not really in a
> damage-assessment mode."
> 
> Ciaccia said the drones - a fixed-wing aircraft and a hybrid
> gas/electric-powered helicopter - have been transmitting ATV video
> via UHF to the ground and simultaneously recording the video on a
> memory stick. The helicopter can remain in the air for more than 5
> hours at a clip, recording images for officials at the EOC to
> evaluate. Ciaccia said Boulder County Emergency Coordinator Al
> Bishop, K0ARK, owns Reference Technology, the company providing the
> drones.
> 
> Ciaccia said that during the past year the Boulder County ARES team
> created the Mountain Emergency Radio Network (MERN) on its own time
> and money and put up two repeaters - one at Allenspark and another
> in Gold Hill. "The intent was to start educating people in the
> mountain regions to become hams," Ciaccia said. Some 65 individuals
> have gotten their licenses, and the team provided each with a radio.
> "Those radios and those people - they became the eyes and ears for
> their communities," Ciaccia explained.
> 
> As power was lost, the only remaining means of communication were
> the two repeaters operating on propane-powered generators. "The
> system worked," Ciaccia added, "and we were able to utilize it for
> emergency communication purposes." Those communities have since been
> evacuated.
> 
> News media accounts citing the state Office of Emergency Management
> say 19 Colorado counties remain under a high threat of flooding.
> These include Boulder, Arapahoe, Weld, Park, Jefferson, Larimer,
> Clear Creek, Adams, Douglas, Broomfield, Gilpin, Denver, Logan,
> Morgan, Washington, El Paso, Teller, Pueblo and Elbert.
> 
> State authorities are warning residents in the hard-hit counties to
> stay off the road. Interstate 25 from the Wyoming line to Denver has
> been closed, along with part of Interstate 70.
> NNNN