Dozens of Starlink systems deployed for Hurricane Helene by Biden administration

By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - The White House said on Monday dozens of Starlink satellite systems that provide high-speed internet access were in use in North Carolina, with over 100 more in transit to areas devastated by Hurricane Helene.

The announcement came as former President Donald Trump said earlier on Monday he spoke to billionaire Elon Musk about setting up the internet access, falsely claiming that the systems had yet to be deployed.

"I just spoke to Elon," Trump said in his remarks. "We want to get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever and Elon will always come through." Trump added: "We are going to try and get the Starlink in there as soon as possible."

Those arrangements had already been made before Trump's comments, President Joe Biden's administration pointed out afterward. "This is already happening," a White House spokesperson said on social media, linking to a press statement dated Monday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The FEMA statement said that in North Carolina, 40 Starlink satellite systems are available to help with responder communications and an additional 140 are being shipped to assist with communications infrastructure restoration.

Hurricane Helene has torn through the U.S. Southeast, killing more than 100 people across six states and cutting off some areas of western North Carolina entirely from communication and road access.

Musk has endorsed Trump in the Nov. 5 elections, in which Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Starlink, Musk's satellite broadband company, is a unit of SpaceX. Starlink controls nearly two thirds of the world's active satellites and is the only high-bandwidth internet system covering the entire planet.

Trump traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, to visit a furniture store that was damaged in the storm. Helene slammed into Florida's Gulf Coast on Thursday night. Storm damage estimates ranged from $15 billion to over $100 billion, insurers and forecasters said over the weekend.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Chris Reese, Heather Timmons and Anna Driver)