LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Salvation Army has a new resource to better respond to areas where the infrastructure has been destroyed by natural disasters. 

On Monday, officials unveiled the new FORTS (Fold-Out Rigid Temporary Spaces) system equipped with Starlink satellite communications at the Salvation Army Warehouse at 1153 Industrial Blvd. 

The Salvation Army's new unit is entirely mobile and easy to deploy. It hooks up to a trailer for easy transport and unfolds in minutes at the site of natural disasters like tornadoes, floods and hurricanes.

This is the third FORTS unit for the Salvation Army's Southern territory. The shelter can serve as a place to sleep or a shelter for volunteers and workers. It is equipped with air-conditioning, heat and electricity and an always-available WiFi connection through Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system. 

The shelters will be needed when workers are responding to areas without cell service or internet, and that's why the Salvation Army also invested in the Starlink system.

But, above all, it provides a level of comfort both for responders and those in need.

"One of the most important facets of a unit like this is bringing relief and hope to those who have been devastated," Major Thomas Louden said during Monday's unveiling. 

The $225,000 shelter was purchased with endowment funds given to the Salvation Army. Salvation Army leaders said the shelter and satellite link would have been perfect to respond to the Mayfield tornadoes, where the infrastructure was wiped out. 

And its mobility is an added bonus. Officials said it it takes three people about 10 minutes to unfold it.

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