Can drones be playing a bigger part in disaster-relief deliveries?
Shire weather
Drones capable of carrying up to 100kg of emergency supplies could become a more common tool during natural disasters such as the flash flood which has put the Daintree ferry out of action, according to one visionary Cow Bay operator.
Conservationist Dave Pinson this week offered the services of his more lightweight drone - which can lift and drop 500g payloads - to carry small objects across the Daintree River, but said huge agricultural drones can now lift up to 100kg and could play a bigger role in future disaster management.
A dangerous situation was narrowly averted on Sunday after cars were parked on one side of the river while the owners were stranded on the other side with floodwaters rising.
“(They) had no way to get keys across to David White from Solar Whisper who could have moved their cars,” Mr Pinson said.
“The water stopped rising so they dodged a bullet - this time.”
Mr Pinson has now offered the use of his specialised drone in emergency situations like this - it is designed for operations such as dropping baited fishing lines out at sea or wedding rings at the altar during marriage ceremonies.
“We also had a situation after TC Jasper, whereby a guy at Cape Trib was running out of insulin,” he said.
“Had I had this larger drone then, I could have easily flown over the Noah's slip and got some to him.”
Mr Pinson, who is a Civil Aviation Safety Authority-certified drone operator, said he was prepared for any more future emergency drop-offs in the Daintree Rainforest area after wife Connie this week built a specially designed bag to drop objects to flood-affected people.
“Probably an important point is that this would be for emergencies, not just endlessly ferrying non-essentials,” he said.