Amazon is preparing to activate its Disaster Relief Hub, which is filled with over 500,000 relief supplies ready to be deployed to aid humanitarian community partners along the Gulf Coast.
Amazon is closely monitoring Hurricane Ida and is ready to fulfill requests from our humanitarian aid partners if they need help with obtaining critical materials after the storm. We hope that such help is not needed, but our new one Disaster Relief Centerstands ready to support affected communities.
The Atlanta area's Disaster Relief Hub stores more than 500,000 Amazon-donated relief items that can be used to help communities in disaster areas in the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and Central America. Atlanta's proximity to the Gulf Coast will help Amazon's community partners respond quickly to hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters. Amazon's expertise in logistics and operations enables us to be fast, flexible and effective.
Hurricane Ida is expected to be one extremely dangerous hurricanewhen it hits. Amazons Partner to the humanitarian communitycan indicate their need for assistance and the Amazon team will act immediately and get the items to the affected areas as soon as possible. Relief supplies that help our partners in their lifesaving work include tarpaulins, tents, water containers and filters, medical equipment, clothing, kitchen supplies and more.
“We are watching Hurricane Ida as it intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico and we are ready to help,” said Abe Diaz, director of disaster relief at Amazon. “We know our community partners are critical to providing relief and recovery from natural disasters, and we will work closely with them to provide the supplies and resources people will need after the storm.”
The Disaster Relief Hub will initially support six global humanitarian aid organizations: the American Red Cross, Direct Relief, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Medical Corps, Save the Children and World Central Kitchen.
As of 2017, Amazon has donated more than 15 million in-kind contributions in response to over 70 natural disasters around the world. Amazon's disaster relief and response efforts in 2021 included donating and delivering more than 2.8 million emergency items in support of on-site relief efforts after a severe earthquake in Haiti; severe flooding in Western Europe and New South Wales, Australia; Forest fires in Turkey and Canada; a tornado in the Czech Republic; a volcanic eruption in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Monsoon season in India; and the winter storms in Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. We also donated essential medical equipment to support hospitals and other COVID-19 care facilities across India, as well as personal protection items to vulnerable communities in Nepal and Chile.
In 2020, Amazon donated more than 1 million emergency relief items, including water, generators, air filters, groceries, KN95 masks, and detergents, to communities in the US and abroad affected by cyclones and forest fires. The effort helped community partners provide disaster relief to those affected by forest fires in Australia, California, Oregon and Washington state; Hurricane Laura along the Gulf Coast; Earthquake in Puerto Rico; and Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America and the Caribbean.
About Amazon's Disaster Relief and Response
Amazon's disaster relief and response efforts leverage Amazon's tremendous operational excellence, innovative technologies, and global logistics network to provide rapid and effective support to global operations to combat major natural disasters. Amazon has stocked cargo planes and shipped truckloads of Amazon-donated items to hurricane-ravaged communities, sent solar-powered lights to people living without power after tsunamis, enabled customers to easily donate products and cash on Amazon.com, and supported organizations like Governments and nonprofits use our Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services to accelerate large-scale response efforts.