sUAS Rescue

The other day, the local USGS folks, with help from the Department of Interior Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Kīlauea response team, was monitoring the eruption activity in the Leilani Estates Subdivision area when they got wind of someone "trapped" in the inundation zone. Let's set aside for a bit asking why someone would remain in their home when a lava flow is bearing down on them and concentrate instead on how some pure scientists and tech geekheads helped save a life. This is pretty remarkable stuff.

First, watch the video here: USGS UAS mission helps with a successful rescue on May 27

Then have a look at where it all went down in context:

All I can say is, Wow. Just. Wow.

Big Island Eruption May 2018

This Google My Maps page is a crowd-sourced, community effort that is being updated quite frequently. It's a great resource for those wondering what is going on out here, where the action currently is, and how much land and property have been affected. I freely admit that I'm quite late adding a page about all this here, but it's likely I'll add more in the days ahead. Honestly I've been too taken in by the events and slack-jawed over it all to do much.