Hurricane Florence, the monster Category 3 storm taking aim at the North and South Carolina coastline, is expected to make landfall by the end of this week and bring with it devastating wind, rain and storm surge. Amazon is already preparing to do what it can for those in the storm’s path.
Dave Clark, senior vice president of operations for the Seattle-based tech giant, tweeted Wednesday about how Amazon teams are already “forward deploying” relief supplies to fulfillment centers closer to what is expected to be the point of impact in the region.
“Trucks, planes and people are ready to help if needed,” Clark said, adding that the company is working with the Red Cross and others.
Teams working to get ready for Florence forward deploying relief supplies in our FCs closer to expected areas of impact, working with the @RedCross and others. Trucks, planes, and people ready to help if needed. Stay safe everyone. Learn more here https://t.co/o87ZwnQ23s pic.twitter.com/bZmubEtaU2
— Dave Clark (@davehclark) September 12, 2018
This isn’t the first time Amazon has used its resources to help those hit by a natural disaster. Clark in fact directed readers to learn more about the company’s past efforts and how its systems originated in this company blog post.
The Disaster Relief by Amazon (DRbA) team was formed to leverage the company’s expertise in its core businesses and logistics. Amazon says it provided assistance to millions of people in 2017 who were impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as floods in India and earthquakes in Mexico.
“We are uniquely positioned to establish a quick ad-hoc supply chain to support relief efforts,” said Bettina Stix, an Amazon veteran credited with developing DRbA. “For example, we sent our Prime Air planes with a full cargo load of humanitarian relief items to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
Even though Amazon routinely demonstrates its ability to solve unique challenges, Stix admitted there was one obstacle to dealing with hurricanes and more.
“The biggest challenge has been the amount and rapid succession of unprecedented disasters,” she said.
This morning, a high definition camera outside of the @Space_Station captured a stark and sobering view of #HurricaneFlorence as it churned across the Atlantic with winds of 130 miles an hour. Take a closer look: https://t.co/IWZCzy2ZLV pic.twitter.com/9gIJ8PA8ng
— NASA (@NASA) September 12, 2018
