How drone data shortens timelines for insurance payouts

Natural disasters can leave people waiting weeks to months for damage assessments that can release federal aid and insurance payouts. FlyGuys and TerraFort have partnered to decrease that timeline to potentially 48 hours. 

"The real innovation isn't simply the drone technology, it's the ability to operationalize reality data capture at scale during some of the most challenging conditions imaginable," shared Joe Stough, CEO of FlyGuys.

An event can trigger drone deployment and AI damage assessments to shrink response times. TerraFort has an intelligence platform to identify where damage was likely occurring and FlyGuys has a nationwide infrastructure to capture high-quality aerial imagery needed to validate and assess the impact.

"Both companies shared the same goal: helping communities recover faster through better data," Stough said. "Historically, coordinating aerial damage assessments has involved numerous manual steps — from identifying remote drone pilots and communicating mission requirements to collecting imagery, transferring files and delivering data for processing."

FlyGuys mobilized its network within days of Super Typhoon Sinlaku, a Category 5 storm, that made landfall on Saipan and Tinian in Northern Mariana Islands in mid-April of this year, according to the press release. FlyGuys captured around one terabyte of aerial imagery for TerraFort. Ten days after landfall the companies completed a damage assessment covering 4,135 residential structures, identifying 991 destroyed and 2,267 with major damage, 739 with minor damage and 138 affected. The data was shared with the American Red Cross and local government agencies. The Red Cross used it for supplemental needs like assistance grants. Local officials used it to support infrastructure planning and FEMA disaster-declaration efforts. 

FlyGuys manages operational logistics, communications and mission support. The TerraFort platform monitors weather systems and scores them based on their likelihood of impacting communities and infrastructure. Open-source intelligence confirms early impacts and automatically generates areas of interest. When a customer requests aerial imagery through the TerraFort platform, FlyGuys receives the mission details and identifies qualified FAA-certified remote drone pilots. Once imagery is collected it is directed back to the TerraFort platform.

"Using property intelligence and remote sensing for claims adjustment has been common in the insurance space for many years at this point. TerraFort and FlyGuys are bringing these cutting edge capabilities to the public sector for the first time, enabling community resilience through rapid recovery," said Grady Joseph, CEO of TerraFort.