Amazon provides aid to communities affected by Hurricane Ian

Amazon recently announced that it has activated its disaster relief center in Atlanta, prepared supplies across Florida, and organized teams to help any communities affected by Hurricane Ian.

The National Hurricane Center predicts that Hurricane Ian will strengthen and become a potentially destructive hurricane that could make landfall in Florida in the coming days. In response, Amazon will take the following assistance measures:

The disaster relief center launched by Amazon this time is a special warehouse in Atlanta, where the company has pre-placed more than 1 million pieces of disaster relief supplies;

Amazon has loaded 360,000 bottles of water onto 10 trucks and strategically pre-positioned these vehicles at multiple locations in Florida and other southern states so that Amazon can quickly deliver clean water to affected communities.

At a facility in Jacksonville, Florida, Amazon has reserved a parking lot for the Red Cross to park up to 75 trailers to help deliver relief supplies if needed.

“Hurricane Ian is likely to be a powerful hurricane when it makes landfall, and we are using our logistics expertise and AI technology to pre-position the most needed products in the most efficient locations,” said Abe Diaz, Amazon’s head of disaster relief. Amazon will continue to monitor the storm and convene its teams to coordinate with relief organizations and local authorities to assist communities.

Since its founding in 2017, Amazon Disaster Relief has donated more than 20 million items in response to 95 natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 19, wreaking havoc on the island. In response, Amazon activated its Atlanta disaster relief center and chartered an Amazon Air 767 to deliver much-needed supplies to the island.

Amazon has delivered hundreds of thousands of relief items to the affected areas, including water filters, tarps, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and food.