How drones are taking over disaster frontlines, key sectors

The concept of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, is as old as World War I when American military engineers developed cruise missiles programmed to fly, land, and detonate on targets.

They have developed over the past century, even acquiring civilian uses, including in agriculture, logistics, videography and land surveying, among other creative uses.

Humanitarians use the "small aircraft" to save lives in a world plagued by economically costly natural disasters such as floods and droughts.

Kenya, for instance, needs Sh37 billion to repair transport infrastructure swept away by the recent floods, according to immediate former Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.

The October-December El Nino rains, and the March-May heavy rains occasioned a great loss of human life, death of livestock, and destruction of farmlands and infrastructure.

Such disasters are a manifestation of a change in climate patterns, and their impacts must be reduced.

The government, Kenya Red Cross Society, and other humanitarian agencies are increasingly relying on drone technology in disaster mitigation.

Emergency Response Manager at Kenya Red Cross Antony Muchiri says Kenyans call to report just about any urgent situation.

The phones beep throughout our interview, at their headquarters in Nairobi’s South B.

Call centre managers offer replies that go a long way in calming the nerves of worried callers.

“We get general calls like someone asking whether it will rain. At other times, we send alerts on the likelihood of floods leading to more calls of up to one thousand callers an hour. The recent Embakasi gas explosion also led to a steep rise [in calls] as people called to use our restoration of family link service, which enables people to trace the whereabouts of their loved ones,” he explained.

Mr Muchiri leads an operation that is, in essence, the organisation’s "eye."

At the Emergency Operations Centre, a wall-size video screen is beaming information from several sources: local and international live television feeds, a screen dedicated to Zoom Earth, an online service providing real-time weather maps while tracking seawater activity, and another screen tracking calls streaming in through the toll-free number, 1199.

Social media, especially X, formerly Twitter, is now a preferred communication channel by distressed Kenyans.

“Whenever there is an incident people will tweet then we pick it up. We also tweet on incidents once confirmed. The X handle is active so that people give us new information and we respond with factual information,” he said.

During a disaster, saving lives is the goal. Delays mean more casualties. Efficiency and speed are preferred explaining why drone technology is fast growing in popularity among emergency responders.

“We use drones extensively. We rushed and mapped the Mai Mahiu area following the dam incident. This enabled us to advise the government through the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) Incident Commanders and alert the Rift Valley Academy and Kijabe Hospital just before another landslide happened. Mapping helped us to see areas of potential danger,” said Mr Muchiri.

He was referring to the events of Monday, April 29, when the Dark Tunnel Valley Dam filled up with flood waters before bursting and sweeping everything found along the waterways in the Old Kijabe area in Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County. Sixty-one people were killed.

Drones were extensively used to survey and determine the severity of the floods that caused the deadly landslides.

Through the aerial photographs, one could immediately identify roads that were cut off, the presence of a new structure, or the absence of what existed before the disaster struck.

The images showed what appeared to be foundation stones of buildings that were washed away by floods.

In Garissa, drone images showed KRC staff the cutoff roads, enabling them to effectively plan how to get essential supplies to victims, including by air.

Pictures taken before and after the rains cleared laid out the changes in human settlement such as the increase in temporary shelters at Garissa FTC camp.

In Tana River County, the drone images depicted subdued villages. Galili village turned into a temporary island only accessible by air.

Three hundred and seventy-eight buildings, including a mosque and a dispensary, were marooned.

Drones are also essential for search and rescue operations. Those fitted with thermal camera sensors can detect objects that are not immediately visible to the human eye, making them fit for purpose during tragedies like landslides where the bodies of victims may have been buried.

Preventing the impact of disasters ranks among the best mitigation measures. Impact-based forecasting helps government and humanitarian agencies predict weather conditions and their likely outcomes for prior planning, an exercise that greatly relies on the mapping of resources.

Kenneth Kasera is a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) expert at the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD).

He says mapping is important for strategic and targeted responses to disasters through visualisation of where everything is on the ground.

“We provide data to disaster responders and collaborate with them on projects. We are currently working on a project to ensure that by 2025, everyone gets early warning information on disaster risk and exposure,” he said.

“The data is important for trend analysis, and to know who is affected and their proximity to the site of disaster. This data creates robust information that is important for planning responses such as logistical needs,” he adds.

Mr Kasera says drones have eliminated barriers associated with older methods of mapping. They access virtually all places while taking detailed photos at a close range.

“The processes have remained the same but how we do things has changed. We placed cameras on birds to fly around with, then we downloaded the images recorded, back in the seventies. We moved to aircraft then satellites and we are now into the automation of things through machine learning and artificial intelligence. It’s been an interesting journey,” he said.

He believes drones won’t push out satellites but will complement them since each has a special edge over the other.

“If it’s cloudy we can’t use satellites but drones fly lower. Drones are current and can be flown anytime to capture the same spot while we have to wait for recurrent time with satellites, where it orbits and returns to that same spot for another shot,” explained Mr Kasera.