Crowdsourced photos help homeowners assess Hurricane Ian's damage
This week on 60 Minutes, correspondent Bill Whitaker reported from Florida on the impact Hurricane Ian is having on local communities.
As many across the state continue to survey the damage, former Air Force weather forecaster Bobby Quinn is lending his service and expertise. The Tampa Bay native drove toward Ian's projected path and rode out the hurricane in his pick-up truck.
"I felt like I needed to be there," Quinn told Whitaker about why he drove into the heart of the storm. "Admittedly, what I didn't expect was how slow it [the hurricane] was moving, and it was relentless. It was the hardest wind and rain I've ever seen."
Quinn runs a tech startup company called "Paypixl" that crowd-sources drone imagery and organizes it on an app. When Hurricane Ian hit Florida, he repurposed the site so evacuees could view images of their homes and assess the damage remotely and free-of-charge.
Paypixl allows anyone to search for an address and see if someone uploaded images of the property from after the hurricane. Quinn uploaded more than 8,000 images he captured of Florida's Rotonda West community. The app also allows evacuees seeking to assess their property the ability to request images.
"I've been through many storms, and no one ever solves the problem of communication to loved ones and homeowners that have evacuated outside," Quinn told 60 Minutes. "There's never a priority on getting data to those people. And they're left being concerned and having feelings of hopelessness. And they're thinking the worst. And we want to get them the imagery that changes that for them, puts them at ease, gives them peace of mind."
You can watch Bill Whitaker's full report on Hurricane Ian below.
The video above was produced by Keith Zubrow and was edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.