As relief efforts begin for Alabama’s and Georgia’s tornados and Tennessee’s recent floods, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is preparing to work overtime – and asking members of the logistics community to be ready to pitch in.

“Our hearts go out to the people who were impacted by Sunday’s tornados, which have proven to be among the deadliest and most destructive in U.S. history – and to the many Tennessee communities that have suffered significant flood damage,” said Kathy Fulton, ALAN’s Executive Director. “As always, ALAN stands ready to help with donated transportation, warehouse space, services and equipment, and we are mobilizing accordingly.”

Fulton said that ALAN will be updating its active disaster micro-site frequently as requests for post-tornado and flood logistics assistance begin to come in and working diligently to match requests with carriers, warehousing providers, 3PLs and other logistics organizations that have pre-offered their assistance via its volunteer/in-kind donation database.

“The need for our assistance hasn’t been extensive yet,” Fulton said.  “However the operative word is yet, which is why we hope members of the logistics community will access our micro-site often in the days or weeks ahead – or consider making a pre-offer of any space, services and equipment they might willing to donate or lend to relief efforts.”

Meanwhile, ALAN and Fulton urge logistics professionals to focus on ensuring that their Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee co-workers or employees are 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 help is by responding to specific requests or making a cash donation to a non-profit disaster relief organization that aligns with their organization’s mission and values.”