POLIBIZ – In 2023, The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided to deny SpaceX's an $885 million subsidy to bring broadband to 642,000 Americans living in rural areas. Also in 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration took some steps towards banning gas stoves from family in an anti-fossil fuel agenda, favored by several Democratic-led cities and states. These two items now prove to be essential to the survivors after Helene hurricane.
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| In Asheville, North Carolina - a total blackout zone after Helene hurricane, Starlink Stations are being set up for public use and even State Police since they aren’t able to connect to cellular networks. |
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Starlink
According to CNN, the devastating Helene hit 6 states in the US, left at least 119 people dead and communities “wiped off the map”, almost 2 million people still don’t have power and communication.
Countless families have no idea whether their loved ones survived, as Helene’s rampage shredded communication infrastructure.
In any disaster relief, communication is key to help rescuers identify the locations of victims, their status, what kind of urgent help they need. In general, without communication, rescuers would have limited clue as to where to go, what to do to help the affected.
It seems that the current communication system (both internet and cellular services) in the affected areas is broken now and Starlink is the quickest (and maybe the only) solution at the moment. Social media is now flooded with grateful expression from people in the storm-hit areas after they can communicate to the world thanks to Starlink.
FEMA is sending Starlink terminals to help victims in North Carolina due to Hurricane Helene.
In 2023 FCC Chair Rosenworcel suggested Starlink is not a trustworthy technology, and chose fiber option which, according to a Starlink spokesperson, would cost 10 times more and take years longer.
Gas Stoves
A few days after the Helene, many people have shared their stories about the helpfulness of gas stoves to cook some basic meals and boil the water for drinking in the circumstance of widespread power disruption which may take weeks to recover.
A list of useful and useless items are also listed in case of a disaster:
Useful items:
- Gas stoves
- Gas cars
- Gas water heater
- Gas-powered electric generators (ideally)
- Cash
- Starlink (maybe added recently)
Useless items:
- Electric car
- Electric appliances
- Fiber internet and phone services
- Debit Card
- City bus
Back to 2023, with the help of some Democrats, the Republican-led House passed a bipartisan legislation to prevent the federal government from banning gas stoves — the latest Republican bid to stop what they say is the Biden-Harris administration’s green fuel agenda. Thanks to that, gas stoves can be still in the victims’ kitchens when the Helene stroke.
Mother Earth never backs up her anger over her sinful children;
natural disasters would come and go, go and come over and over. Some basic
useful items should be by your side to enhance the chance of survival.
