Starlink is being used to provide wireless emergency alerts to cell phones from all carriers in North Carolina, according to Ben Longmier, senior director of satellite engineering for SpaceX. "We are also closely monitoring Hurricane Milton and standing by ready to take action in Florida," he wrote.

SpaceX’s direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed, so all services will be delivered on a best-effort basis. The massive flooding from Hurricane Helene created swaths of “blackout zones,

Elon Musk’s space-based internet satellites got special permission to act as cell phone towers in the sky, connecting people in blacked-out areas of North Carolina as they begin post-storm recovery efforts.