FOOTPRINT PROJECT BLOG
From relief to resilience
IMPACT
We’ve deployed 250+ kW of mobile solar
and 700+ kWh of mobile battery storage
to 25+ disaster response and recovery missions,
providing emergency clean power access to 50,000+ people.
IN THE FIELD
Hurricane Helene Response & Recovery
On September 22, 2024, Hurricane Helene emerged in the Caribbean Sea, rapidly intensifying into a devastating Category 4 storm aimed at Florida and later impacting six states, particularly wreaking havoc in North Carolina. Our team mobilized quickly, deploying renewable energy solutions and establishing essential support hubs to aid communities in desperate need. From setting up battery libraries for residents relying on medical equipment to transforming local businesses into resource hubs, our efforts grew into the largest response and recovery operation in our history. Over $200,000 was raised, and nearly $400,000 worth of sustainable equipment was deployed. As we transitioned to long-term recovery, we launched initiatives like the WNC Free Store, ensuring communities can regain their footing sustainably.
Footprint Project Announces RFP for Solar and Atmospheric Water Generators
Footprint Project is pleased to announce our Request For Proposals (RFP) for Solar and Atmospheric Water Generators!
An Earth Day message from Footprint Project
When was the last time your power went out? I don’t mean those split second events, almost imperceptible but for your blinking microwave clock. I’m talking about a day or a week or a month or more without electricity. Whatever’s in your refrigerator is going bad.
Healthier Power in New Orleans
Disasters exacerbate disparities. From Hurricane Katrina to the pandemic to Hurricane Ida, food insecurity is perpetuated by New Orleans’ high rates of poverty and vulnerability to extreme weather events.
Decarbonizing Disaster Response - PV Magazine
We sat down with PV Magazine to discuss the Maui wildfires, decarbonizing disaster response, and duck curve financing.
Microgrids for Maui
When fires devastated communities on Maui in August, we watched in horror as the news traveled across the Pacific, reports growing deadlier and more devastating by the hour. Never having been to Hawai’i, we began to strategize about how we could help.
Lighting the Way to Recovery in Mississippi
Early this spring, a series of tornadoes devastated several communities in rural Mississippi. We joined forces with local partners requesting emergency power: Delta Health Center in Rolling Fork, the Fannie Lou Hamer Center for Change in Eupora, and the Zion Baptist Association in Winona. These hubs would go on to serve as foundations of recovery and resilience in their communities.
Firefighters Armed with Solar Training in Northern Sonoma County
Tucked away in the hills of the Russian River Valley near Cloverdale, CA, the Northern Sonoma County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a shining example of effective use of cleaner energy in disaster response. The team of industrious firefighters stores, maintains, and frequently deploys one of Footprint Project’s solar trailers to emergency sites and shelters.
Building Power in the Eye of Hurricane Ian
A few months ago, long before a tropical depression that would become Hurricane Ian formed in the Caribbean, the United Methodist Committee on Relief decided to invest in resilient power solutions for their disaster response teams.
Solar Generators Light Up Ukraine
At Footprint Project, we focus on deploying solar generators to disasters in the domestic U.S. and Puerto Rico. Logistics, program sustainability, cultural competency, and overall need have always pointed us in the direction of our own backyard when it comes to building back greener - until Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Spring tornado devastates New Orleans community
Less than 24 hours after a rare, EF3 tornado hit New Orleans, Footprint Project was on the ground to provide emergency clean power for neighbors in the hardest hit area of Arabi.
Kentucky Tornadoes Put Solar to the Test
While many families were preparing to wind down for the holidays (including the Footprint Project team), tornado sirens rang out in states across the southeastern United States. With at least 88 fatalities, the “Quad-State Super Cell” became the deadliest December tornado event on record in the United States.
Building Back Greener After Ida
Footprint Project has been on the ground in Louisiana since September 3 deploying solar + batteries to communities affected by Hurricane Ida.
Pointe Aux Chenes community still seeing little relief
Thursday, the Footprint Project hooked up a solar power generator to the Tribal building, so it can serve as a hub not only for all the supplies people have been donating but also a place to cool off and charge phones.
Still unclear when power will be returned to Louisiana residents, so they turn to an alternative
CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos joins The News with Shepard Smith to report on the difficulties Louisiana is having getting power back after Hurricane Ida, and one company that’s providing an alternative solution.
The “solar cavalry” is coming to the rescue in New Orleans
Utility workers are slowly bringing electricity back to Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Ida wiped out much of the region’s power grid in the dawn hours of Aug. 30. But much of the region remains in the dark: 843,000 homes and businesses were without power as of the evening of Sept. 1, only about 11% less than immediately after the storm.