APOPKA, Fla. –
A Winter Garden tech company is helping a local wildlife sanctuary recover from Hurricane Irma by giving them a new perspective on their storm damage.
Megatonn 3D visited the Creating Animal Respect Education, or CARE, Foundation on Tuesday and used its 3D printed drones to assess the damage at the sanctuary.
When Hurricane Irma hit, CARE Founder Christin Burford said her main concern was for the more than 200 animals at the Apopka property.
"We had most of the monkeys, all but two in the house. All the big birds. We had a pig and dog running around," Burford said.
None of the animals were injured, but strong winds left the sanctuary with widespread damage, Burford said.
"We lost a lot of roofing (and) a lot of fencing. We lost some of the meat we had in some of the freezers for the big cats," Burford said.
With dozens of trees down on the property, the drone video gave workers at CARE a better understanding of what areas were in need of immediate repair.
"There were certain areas that we really couldn't get to well or safely, so he was able to fly over and take care of all that," Burford said.
While the sanctuary is still operational, repairs are expected to take several weeks.
The CARE foundation is currently holding a fundraiser to raise money for fixing the damage and food lost due to power outages.
For information on how to donate, visit thecarefoundation.org/contribute.