Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for restoring connectivity among partitioned segments in a partitioned wireless sensor and actor network (WSAN). The method includes placing batches of mobile nodes at locations surrounding mobile nodes previously placed within a damaged area of the partitioned WSAN, spreading the batches of mobile nodes, determining whether connectivity among the partitioned segments has been restored, and repeating placing batches of mobile nodes, spreading the patches of mobile nodes, and determining whether connectivity among the partitioned segments has been restored when connectivity among the partitioned segments is not restored.The method is based on a distributed dropping approach which introduces minimal disruption to previously deployed mobile nodes, and decreases total travelled distance a mobile node might move compared with a traditional central dropping approach. Thus, the distributed dropping approach can expedite the restoration process, reduce power consumption, and expand survival time of a WSAN.