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Florida disaster risk agencies forced to mothball drones that were critical during Ian and Surfside [1]

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Date: 2023-04-17  

Drones that provide critical streaming during times of crisis have been mothballed as a DeSantis rule took effect recently, banning the use of a famous Chinese drone by state agencies, colleges, universities, police, and fire departments.

From The Tallahassee Democrat:

A new Gov. Ron DeSantis administration rule took effect recently to forbid the popular DJI-manufactured drones (Da Jiang Innovations) and other foreign aircraft from being used by state agencies — including colleges and universities. While the Florida State University Center for Disaster Risk Policy’s drone team currently has 35 operational drones, 14 others — which have usually been used during disasters — have been stashed away on its shelves because of the new law. Out of the 14 banned drones, most of them are DJI drones the team used to help during significant events such as the Surfside, Florida condo collapse at Champlain Towers in June 2021 and Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida in September 2022. “For years, we’ve used DJI aircraft because they’re inexpensive and easy to use,” FSU Center for Disaster Risk Policy Director David Merrick told the Tallahassee Democrat. “Now we’ve shifted away from them to a Paris-based company called Parrot, which is fine, but they’re just not the same quality.” The DeSantis administration rule was finalized in efforts to get rid of any threatening foreign influence that might exist across the state through the devices.

DeSantis hacks told the Department of Management Services the ban was necessary over concerns by the Feds over spying technology. They were unable to provide any evidence to back the claim up.

This is GQP governance, shoot from the hip and ask questions later. They are incapable of analyzing the details of the decisions they make. Now the Florida taxpayers are on the hook for replacing the state's drone fleet. And hurricane season is coming.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/17/2164353/-Florida-disaster-risk-agencies-forced-to-mothball-drones-that-were-critical-during-Ian-and-Surfside

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