With over seven weeks remaining in hurricane season, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is bracing for another major named storm – and reminding supply chain professionals to stay tuned as specific requests for assistance emerge.
“In an ideal world we’d have plenty of time to focus all of our efforts on Hurricane Florence’s clean-up and recovery,” said Kathy Fulton, ALAN’s Executive Director. “But in the real world, major hurricanes don’t always wait for their turn. As a result, we are officially activating for Hurricane Michael.”
Earlier today, ALAN expanded its hurricane micro-site (www.alanaid.org/operations/) to include key details about Michael’s projected path, impacts and related logistics needs.
“The bad news is, we’ve had to use this site several times already, because there have been so many major hurricanes this year,” said Fulton. “The good news is, it’s allowed us to do a better job of keeping everyone up to date – and helped us connect humanitarian organizations with the logistics help they need more quickly.”
ALAN encourages those who are interested in helping with Hurricane Michael relief to visit the site often over the next few weeks (reminding people that the greatest volume of its requests for warehousing, transportation and material handling equipment usually arrive well after a hurricane has passed) or to consider fulfilling one of the many Hurricane Florence logistics requests that are already showcased there.
In the interim, it urges logistics professionals to focus on keeping themselves and their U.S. Gulf Coast employees safe, and to resist the temptation to send unsolicited products, trucks or personnel directly to impacted areas.
“Many of these well-intended charitable efforts actually get in the way of what relief organizations are already there to do,” said Fulton. “So more often than not, the best way that our industry can be of help is by responding to specific needs– or making a cash donation to a non-profit disaster relief organization that aligns with their organization’s mission and values.”
