Drone technology helped speed the process for approving the state’s federal disaster declaration after ex-Typhoon Halong. That was the message from Stan Caldwell, the director of a federal department of transportation program that gives grants to agencies to pursue projects that improve safety and transportation. He was in Anchorage Monday to meet with officials working on drone technology.
The program is called SMART, which stands for Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation.
While visiting Anchorage, he said a federal grant allowed the state to use drones to provide real-time data and photos when ex-Typhoon Halong wreaked havoc in Western Alaska last month…