Civil Air Patrol aircrews are providing vital aerial imagery in support of the federal response to historic flooding across Arkansas, flying 91 hours as of April 10 and generating more than 26,000 high-resolution images so far to assist in disaster assessment and recovery planning.
The mission, carried out for Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 6, includes a total of 17 areas of interest across the state.
On April 7, aircrews provided full coverage of three of the areas, generating 464 images from Texarkana, 372 from Hardy, and 406 from Danville.
The next day, CAP crews continued aerial coverage across numerous communities. collecting 1,874 images from Walnut Ridge, 680 from Pocahontas, 576 from Ravenden, 532 from Reyno, and 280 from Imboden. Additional flights generated 2,902 images from Benton and 2,886 from Searcy.
In addition, combined coverage over Bay, Monette, and Lake City produced 3,995 images. That team also provided 2,972 images from Batesville, 874 images from Newport, 396 from Augusta, and 242 from Tuckerman.
Aircrews are using a high-resolution camera mounted externally to the aircraft strut. The camera system captures geotagged images automatically at regular intervals while flying planned grid routes, which provides consistent, overlapping coverage of wide areas, enabling emergency managers to analyze flooding impacts and assess infrastructure damage from a strategic aerial perspective.
The mission launched April 5 and is expected to last throughout the week as Civil Air Patrol continues to receive and respond to new taskings for areas of Interest.
Members from the Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Alabama wings are participating in daily operations. All imagery is collected at FEMA’s direction and in coordination with Air Forces Northern Command.
“This mission may be supporting Arkansas, but it’s truly a multistate effort,” said Lt. Col. Charles Rine, Arkansas Wing deputy commander and incident commander for the operation.
“We’ve brought in aircrews and personnel from across the region, all working together to make this response possible,” Rine said.
CAP, the U.S. Air Force auxiliary, plays a crucial role in domestic disaster response by providing timely, accurate aerial photography in the aftermath of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other emergencies._____1st Lt. Lauren MedinaPublic Affairs OfficerTexas Wing
