I want to thank my old friends from McClatchy DC for the bulk of this article.
Yes Virginia, it was Trump and Musk who got the Starlink to NC. Not the Administration. Obscure websites and MSM are trying to take away credit for the Starlink work done by Trump and Musk. Giving the Administration credit for using Starlink. Remember the government eliminated Starlink from providing North Carolina with Internet service.
To reconnect emergency responders and residents after Hurricane Helene, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has shipped dozens of Starlink satellite systems to rural Western North Carolina.
On Monday, FEMA announced 40 Starlink systems were in the region to assist emergency communications, with plans to deploy one system to each county affected by the storm. Another 140 systems will be sent to aid “with communications infrastructure restoration,” the White House said in a Sept. 30 statement on relief efforts. TOP VIDEOS
A subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink has positioned more than 6,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit to beam broadband internet service to on-the-ground terminals.
The first North Carolina households installed Starlink in 2021, and since then, the system has been used in the aftermaths of natural disasters and war worldwide where traditional internet infrastructure faltered. Ukraine fighters, for example, have relied on Starlink in their battle against Russia.
On Tuesday, North Carolina mountain counties reported Starlink enabled emergency responders to receive calls and residents to check in on family. In Ashe County, north of Boone, the emergency management department has established connection at more than a half-dozen fire stations.
Residents are advised to turn on Wi-Fi calling on their phones to link to this satellite service. Residents and volunteers clean up on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 after the French Broad River flooded downtown Marshall. The remnants of Hurricane Helene caused widespread flooding, downed trees, and power outages in western North Carolina.
Trump said Monday during a speech in Valdosta, Georgia, that he had spoken to Musk about delivering Starlink systems to storm-affected areas. Early the next morning, Musk, who has endorsed Trump’s reelection bid, announced his coordination with the Republican candidate.
On the platform X, which Musk also owns, the SpaceX founder wrote “Earlier today, @realDonaldTrump alerted me to additional people who need Starlink Internet in North Carolina. We are sending them terminals right away.”
On Tuesday, North Carolina state Sen. Danny Britt, a Republican who represents the Sandhills counties of Robeson, Hoke and Scotland across the state from Western North Carolina, posted on X that he had asked Trump “for help restoring communications to Western NC, and he delivered.”
“Within hours, President Trump got Elon Musk on the phone and a commitment of as many Starlink devices as we need to help save North Carolinians.”
Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, visited Hickory on Wednesday to deliver 300 Starlink systems in a visit coordinated by Medic Corps, a group running relief operations out of the Hickory Regional Airport. Ivanka Trump took photos with pilots, airport staff and volunteers.
Some on social media claimed that President Joe Biden or the Federal Communications Commission previously revoked from Starlink more than $900 million in grant funds to expand high-speed internet access in rural North Carolina.
