Tennessee State Representative and House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) said Starlink units being delivered and installed in areas of East Tennessee decimated by flash flooding from Hurricane Helene have been a “lifeline” for residents who remain without a connection to the outside world.
On Monday, Faison began collaborating with Tennessee political commentator Robby Starbuck, who has purchased and donated more than 20 Starlink units, to connect those in East Tennessee stranded in rural areas left without power.
Developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink units use a network of satellites in low Earth orbit to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet to the most rural and remote locations worldwide.
Faison said he worked with Starbuck’s team to install a Starlink unit in Del Rio, which the Tennessee state congressman said is an area that was “decimated” by flood waters.
“In the middle of carnage and frustration and loss, [the Starlinks] brought a glimmer of hope to people. It was absolutely a beautiful thing. We put one way out in Del Rio and Del Rio’s decimated. Just Google ‘Del Rio, Tennessee flood pictures’ and it’ll just break your heart,” Faison said on Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Faison (pictured above) said the Starlink unit was installed at a local diner in Del Rio on Monday and continues to attract residents who are seeking internet connection.
“I put one at a local diner that had been shut down because of flooding, didn’t have any electricity, and didn’t have water. But Robby and his team set one up at that little diner and they called me this morning. He said, ‘Jeremy, there’s 30 cars outside right now.’ People are just thankful that they can connect to the outside world. Just little things like that have made the biggest difference as you can imagine,” Faison said.
“They were so excited that they could connect…It has been a massive lifeline,” Faison added.
In regards to the overall damage in his district, Faison said he’s “never seen anything quite like it” in his lifetime.
“In the history of them keeping levels on the Pigeon River, the highest it has ever been was just around 23 feet. By Friday midday, it had broken 27 feet, which is the highest since they’ve ever been watching that river. It has never made it to 27 feet, so you can imagine what three feet difference does in an area like this. We start seeing houses coming down the river. We saw campers coming. I saw a Walmart trailer coming down the river, floating down the river,” Faison explained.
When it comes to the federal response to East Tennessee communities impacted by the hurricane, Faison said, “I want to be careful throwing anybody under the bus, but it feels to me that FEMA is such a juggernaut bureaucracy that they can’t get out of their own way.”
Faison instead praised the state’s response and Patrick C. Sheehan, the director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), saying, “He and his people have been amazing.”
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Background Photo “Hurricane Helene Damage” by Bill Lee.
