Elon Musk readjusts Starlink satellites to support Florida after Hurricane Ian

Jenny Goldsberry

October 01, 07:00 PM October 01, 08:12 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Saturday that Elon Musk is adjusting his Starlink satellites to serve Floridians affected by Hurricane Ian.

DeSantis made the news while participating in a press conference in Wauchula, Florida, in Hardee County, standing behind a set of SpaceX user terminals that allow those nearby to connect to the internet via its satellites. The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO repositioned satellites over the affected parts of Florida to help with connectivity, the Florida governor said. The on-the-ground terminals are called "Dishy McFlatface."

"We're happy to be able to bring that here," DeSantis said of the terminals.

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The Florida governor is touring the state now that Hurricane Ian left Florida toward the end of Thursday. It has since been categorized as a tropical storm.

"It's better than the last time I was here," DeSantis said. "Now we're here surveying a lot of flood."

DeSantis claimed he met a resident whose entire home was underwater. Behind his podium, there was a Florida Division of Emergency Management truck, which was dispatched a vehicle to Hardee County before the hurricane hit. On Sunday's weather forecast, the county wasn't in Ian's anticipated tracking cone.

"You have residents here who've gone through a lot of hurricanes, this one had more water than any of those hurricanes by far," DeSantis said. "So it was a situation where you really had life-threatening flooding going on in some of the neighborhoods."

There is no date on returning to school, per the Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz.

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Musk revealed earlier this year that he was leaning toward supporting DeSantis in the 2024 presidential election, should he decide to run. DeSantis expressed pleasure when asked about the near endorsement soon after, joking to reporters that he was "focused on 2022, but with Elon Musk, what I would say is I welcome support from African Americans."

"What can I say?" he said jokingly.