Elon Musk To Send Starlink Units To Help Florida Following Hurricane Ian

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that Elon Musk is donating 120 Starlink units to provide internet access to some of the hardest-hit areas of Florida, Reuters reported.

Starlink will cover the cost of the units and position its network of satellites to beam internet to western Florida.

"We are working with Elon Musk and Starlink satellite. They are positioning those Starlink satellites to provide good coverage in Southwest Florida and other affected areas," DeSantis told reporters. "We are expecting 120 additional large Starlink units to deploy to Southwest Florida."

Most of the units, which can provide high-speed internet access within a 13-mile radius, will go to Lee County, which was devastated after taking a direct hit when Ian slammed into the Florida coast as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday (September 28).

Nearly 350,000 people in the county remain without power, according to poweroutage.us.

DeSantis said that the units will be given to search and rescue teams as they continue their efforts to locate any survivors and clean up from the storm. Rescuers with multiple agencies have already rescued over 4,000 people who were trapped by flood waters.

As of Saturday afternoon, at least 54 people have been killed in Florida in the aftermath of Ian.


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