Media like weathernationtv.com are tracking the hurricane

As North America braces for more devastation in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, materials handling and logistics suppliers are being asked to mobilise their support.

Latest reports put the hurricane off the east coast of America, moving north. Next in line are the Carolinas, where residents are already on high alert after at least 20 people were killed in the havoc in the Bahamas.

The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) has been urging residents of Florida, the Gulf Coast and other parts of the southeast to start preparing - and advising the logistics community to get ready to help.

"The strength and path projections for Dorian are still very uncertain, but do suggest that it could be a destructive and dangerous event for Florida and, potentially, all of the southeast and Gulf Coast," says Kathy Fulton, ALAN's executive director. "As a result, ALAN is officially mobilising and gearing up to provide donated space, trucking, services and equipment as needed."

ALAN has activated a Hurricane Dorian microsite, where the humanitarian organisation is posting requests for assistance and links to helpful community resources. In addition, it has issued an official "STORM" advisory that provides several 'dos and don'ts' for safe and efficient disaster preparation and relief.

Tips include:
Stay safe. If you and your business facilities are located anywhere near Dorian's projected path, be sure to monitor your local National Weather Service forecast for real-time details.
Treat every storm like it might be the big one - even if previous storms have seemed to be 'much ado about nothing'.
Offer any logistics space, equipment or services you might be willing to donate. Although logistics professionals may not have the medical skills of first responders, they have many skills and assets that can be equally applicable after disasters hit.
Resist the urge to self-deploy or to participate in product collection drives. Although the intention behind these drives is good, they often create more challenges than they solve, including adding more products to a supply chain that is already under tremendous strain.
Make frequent visits to ALAN's microsite, https://www.alanaid.org/operations/.

"During our 14 years of operation, we've seen some potentially catastrophic hurricanes that have turned into relatively minor events while others have morphed into far more major events than originally anticipated," says Fulton. "Obviously, we hope Dorian will turn out to be the former. However, if it isn't, we want people to remember that we are here to assist - and that when it comes to these storms, there's no such thing as too ready."

Founded in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, ALAN is a philanthropic, industry-wide organisation that provides free logistics assistance to disaster relief organisations before, during and after catastrophic events.