President Trump announced in Valdosta, Georgia, that he is working with Elon Musk to provide Starlink for those impacted by Hurricane Helene.

“They don’t have communication. They don’t have anything right now. I just spoke to Elon. We want to get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever. Elon will always come through. We know that,” Trump said.

WATCH:

The Hill reports:

Former President Trump on Monday said he’s spoken with Elon Musk about providing Starlink internet service for those without power in states ravaged by Hurricane Helene.

Trump visited Valdosta, Ga., where he toured storm damage and expressed support for those dealing with the aftermath. The former president indicated he would also visit North Carolina, which was battered by the hurricane in recent days as well.

WATCH:

Per Reuters:

Starlink, Musk’s satellite broadband company, is a unit of SpaceX. Starlink controls nearly two thirds of the world’s active satellites and is the only high-bandwidth internet system covering the entire planet.

“Asheville, NC is a TOTAL blackout zone, so we’ve set up TWO Starlink Stations for Public Use. Even NC State Police aren’t able to connect to cellular networks, so they’re using our Starlinks now,” investigative journalist Nick Sortor wrote.

Per WNCN:

With telephone and fiber optic lines cut and most cellphone service out in the North Carolina mountains following Hurricane Helene flooding, areas are turning to other technologies to help with communication.

Asheville has been described by many on social media as a “blackout zone” for making calls, texting or accessing the internet. Other communities in many western North Carolina are also without reliable communications after fiber optic lines buried beside roads were damaged or cell towers were knocked offline.

In Asheville, some people have brought in Starlink satellite internet access and are allowing people to connect for free.

Elsewhere, such as Enka-Candler Fire Department Station 10 in Buncombe County, crews set up a Compact Rapid Deployable cell tower and internet access point.

The mini cellphone towers with a generator allow for cellphone coverage up to 2 miles and Wi-Fi range of up to 500 feet. The small towers use a high-speed Ka-Band satellite terminal to access the internet after the cell towers connect with end-user phones or computers.

 

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