Novel drone may help disaster-hit areas stay connected

An Indian-origin student in the UK has developed a drone that provides communication immediately after the occurrence of a natural disaster, allowing victims to quickly contact family and rescue groups.
The potentially life-saving system, called Exigency, was invented by Luqmaan Patel, a student at Staffordshire University in the UK.
"I felt there was more application for drones, than just simply flying and taking landscape images, I wanted to push the application forward and create more of a beneficial use for drones," said Patel.
"My research found that after a natural disaster, it takes up to 72 hours to rebuild the infrastructure - that's a long time for someone to not be able to tell their loved ones that they're alive," he said.

The drone provides such an area with temporary communications. The immediate response system allows victims to contact family and organisations to quickly set up evacuation camps.
"Having that extra time to communicate and to help evacuate people from the danger really could help to save lives," Patel said.