As Tropical Storm/Hurricane Helene approaches landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast, ALAN is busy preparing, and we are encouraging all of our partners to do the same.
With that in mind, we’d like to share five pre-storm takeaways that we feel are essential for you and your organizations to be aware of. They’re listed below, and we hope you’ll find them informative. Below these takeaways, you’ll find the current situation report. We’ll update these resources frequently on our Disaster Micro-Site (https://www.alanaid.org/operations/) and will send another situation report as conditions warrant.
The Disaster Micro-Site is also where we share key details about ALAN’s storm activation measures and how you can support our relief efforts.
Because this storm has the potential to be especially destructive, we encourage you to visit ALAN’s Supply Chain Intelligence Center (https://www.alanaid.org/map/). There, you’ll find resources to keep you in the loop about everything from Helene’s latest path to how local and regional transportation infrastructure is being affected.
“As always, all of us at ALAN hope that this storm will be much less severe than predicted and that any damage to life, health, and property will be minimal. At the same time, we are grateful for the many good people like you who continue to invest in our work, said Kathy Fulton, Executive Director of ALAN. ” We ask that you help us prepare to respond by making a financial donation today. Even a seemingly small contribution can go a long way in ensuring we can deliver critical aid to those who need it most.
ALAN’s five key takeaways for your organization
1) Make personal safety a priority.
If you or your locations are anywhere near Helene’s path, monitor the National Hurricane Center and your local National Weather Service forecast for real-time details. And please, don’t ignore any safety warnings that pertain to you or your personnel. This is expected to be a major hurricane with estimated winds of up to 115 miles per hour, so its potential impact is not to be taken lightly.
2) For the latest detailed information about storm-related road closures, facility closures, and other supply chain impacts, visit ALAN’s Supply Chain Intelligence Center at https://www.alanaid.org/map/.
It should tell you most of what you need to know. But should you need additional information, don’t hesitate to contact us at https://www.alanaid.org/
3) View the latest requests for logistics support by going to the “Active Logistics Needs” section of our Disaster Micro-Site at https://www.alanaid.org/
Over the past few weeks, ALAN has communicated with various emergency management and non-profit partners regarding hurricane needs for Beryl, Debby, and Francine. Although there are no “open” requests for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Helene, this situation could quickly change as the storm makes landfall. In previous years, most of our requests have come several days or weeks after hurricanes. So stay tuned and ready – as requests for transportation, warehousing, volunteers, and material handling equipment come in, we will post them promptly.
4) Request or offer support. If you are a non-profit, please tell us what you anticipate needing by requesting alanaid.org/request-support. If you are a business, tell us how you can help by making a “pre-offer” for transportation, warehouse space, equipment, expertise, or services at https://www.alanaid.org/how-
Such information is hugely helpful because it helps us better plan our response. Knowing what is needed and who can help allows us to move quickly to support the most urgent needs. We’ll confirm the information with you and match offers with fit needs.
5) Be mindful and demure in your support of disaster relief activities. Don’t self-deploy to disaster-affected sites; please don’t participate in product collection drives.
Although the intention behind both of these activities is good, they often create more challenges than they solve because they tend to get in the way of responders who are working to save lives – and add confusion to an emergency supply chain that is already under tremendous strain. If you’re looking for a meaningful way to help, consider making a financial contribution to ALAN or a humanitarian organization. Such donations will be much more helpful and efficient – and far more likely to reach storm survivors.
