Drones have helped people and local law enforcement with storm damage

Advanced technology has improved almost every area of daily life

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Advanced technology has improved almost every area of daily life. In Calhoun County some of that technology is helping the sheriff’s office get a bird’s eye view of things that they may have missed before.

Drones have been helping departments with search and rescue, tracking suspects, and finding missing persons, but lately they’ve been in the field helping those impacted by tornadoes and storms.

“It started out my goal was to use it for search and rescue, missing, or wanted persons and that kind of thing and we have used it for that,” said sheriff Greg Pollan.

Lately, Calhoun County has been in the path of several storms and tornadoes, and has suffered its share of damage; so, sheriff Greg Pollan shifted his focus. For the past five years, the department’s drone has been giving them a view that they might not have been able to see otherwise.

“When you drive up and see it yea you see the damage to the front of the church but when you get sky bound and look down on it you see the magnitude of what’s around it,” said Pollan.

The drone allows the department to view things from up to 400 ft in the air, and it can pick up everything that it hovers over.

Pollan said he saw more departments taking advantage of the new technology and felt it would benefit his department and the people who live in the county.

“I kind of jumped on the bandwagon and we expanded and got a bigger one and I don’t use it everyday or every week but it is available for us to use it for any circumstance whenever it is. and the community has been extremely supportive. I have people call all the time asking can you bring it,” said Pollan.

Pollan said he feels that the drone is one of the most beneficial tools that he could have gotten and says it helps his crew prepare for any situation.