SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk ramped up the rollout of Starlink’s direct-to-cell service for areas expected to be hit Wednesday by Hurricane Milton, marking the latest assistance efforts by the aerospace company.
The rollout is part of a new partnership between Starlink and T-Mobile to activate its direct-to-cell satellites for emergency alerts for all phones and carriers for those affected by Hurricane Milton, Musk announced overnight Wednesday. The activation is free of charge and applies to carriers outside of T-Mobile, he added.
Milton, currently a Category 4 storm, is expected to make landfall in Florida as early as Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Forecasters are deeming Milton the worst storm to hit the state’s west coast in more than a century.
As many as 5.9 million people in Florida are under mandatory evacuation orders as Milton is expected to bring “life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds.”
Basic texting was also enabled specifically for T-Mobile phones in impacted areas, allowing users to text others, 911, and receive emergency alerts, SpaceX said Tuesday.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) quickly gave emergency temporary authority for the partnership in Florida, SpaceX added.
Milton is expected to slam Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit parts of the Sunshine State and wreaked havoc in Georgia and North Carolina.
SpaceX sent more than 10,000 Starlink terminals to North Carolina and other areas impacted by Helene last week. One Starlink was expected to be deployed for every county’s emergency operations center to help with communications.
Musk, who also owns the social media platform X, caught fire last week for claiming he was told the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) was “actively blocking” SpaceX volunteers from helping the recovery efforts in North Carolina.
In another post, he falsely claimed the federal government “shut down” the airspace and that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was “throttling flights” carrying deliveries for Helene victims.
Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg rebuked this statement, maintaining the airspace was not shut down and the FAA “doesn’t block legitimate rescue and recovery flights.”
The two had a chat offline and Musk later posted a message thanking Buttigieg for having a conversation.
Musk’s false claims were part of a wider flood of misinformation witnessed across social media platforms in the aftermath of Helene. Federal, state and local leaders have sounded the alarm that the spread of falsehoods by online users, including some political figures, is complicating an already difficult recovery process in the South.
Falsehoods about government funding were among the most shared claims on social media, including by former President Trump, who baselessly claimed last week that the government is purposely withholding aid from Republican hurricane victims while FEMA is redirecting disaster relief funds to migrants.
Both of these claims have been refuted by FEMA, which created a page titled “Hurricane Rumor Response,” where users can see debunked rumors about the agency’s response.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday the volume of misinformation ahead of Milton appears to be going down, and told reporters that administrators will not allow it to become a “distraction.”
The White House launched a Reddit page Tuesday with official updates for Milton.
Musk has endorsed Trump’s reelection bid and recently ramped up his political involvement as the election draws closer. The tech billionaire appeared alongside Trump at his rally last week in Butler, Pa., where he railed against Democrats.
Musk has backed Save America PAC, an outside group that has taken on a leading role in get-out-the-vote efforts for the Trump campaign.