Student uses drone imaging for hurricane relief effort in Texas Student uses drone imaging for hurricane relief effort in Texas

She tried to hold back tears as she approached her husband and the insurance adjuster taking stock of the few belongings they had left after Hurricane Harvey made landfall. Her efforts to contain her emotions failed as the insurance adjuster turned to face her. Her tears were not for the lost belongings, but for her husband with terminal brain cancer. If only the floodwaters could've washed away the medical bills.

For those sitting high and dry, the scene in Rockport, Texas, was unimaginable.

"I remember one day I looked down and I could've sworn I put on tan pants that morning," said James Balman. "But my pants were almost completely black. I looked closer and my pant legs were just covered in mosquitos."

The damage, he said, was unlike anything you could imagine.

"You see these boards that are just split in half, and they got that way because a regular sheet of printer paper gained enough velocity to slice it in two," he said.

Balman is an insurance adjuster and a Wichita State Master of Innovation Design (MID) student contributing to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. He is an independent adjuster, contracted by a variety of insurance agencies to help assess damages and accurately process insurance claims. The software he had been working on during his time at WSU is now making a difference to the citizens of Rockport, Texas.

Read the complete story at http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/stories/story.asp?si=3848