Metro Atlanta Amazon hub prepares to respond to disasters during hurricane season

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - As this year’s hurricane season marches on, Amazon’s Disaster Relief Hub in Union City stands ready to respond to disaster.

Atlanta News First toured the Georgia hub on Tuesday, where we saw its Field Operation Center and Communication Control Center. The centers allow staff to be self-sufficient and able to communicate when they deploy to a disaster area.

Inside, hundreds of supply pallets are ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice.

Just recently, Amazon, in partnership with the Red Cross, delivered over 16,000 hygiene supplies from this Georgia facility after the flooding in central Texas. They also delivered almost 20,000 ounces of baby formula to Asheville after Hurricane Helene.

Since Disaster Relief by Amazon was created in 2017, Bettina Stix said it’s responded to more than 190 disasters around the world.

Stix, the leader and brains behind the operation, said the faster supplies arrive, the faster the recovery effort.

The Union City facility is one of 15 disaster relief hubs around the world. Amazon representatives say they currently have 1.4 million supplies in the facility, pre-packed and loaded onto pallets that could probably fill three airplanes.

Adelaide Kirk, regional disaster officer for the American Red Cross of Georgia, calls the partnership invaluable because the organization doesn’t have the space in its own facilities for these supplies.

“This facility specifically houses some shelter kits that we need, some tarps, some totes, different things that we specifically have partnered with them on,” she said. “So, they’re sitting here ready to go, and since we don’t have that kind of warehouse space, this allows us to have it aggregated and ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

Tarps, said Kirk, are their number one requested item. They have 33,000 ready to go in these warehouses to cover the need for the whole year.

They also have disaster kits filled with items people might not think to donate, such as cleaning supplies, diapers, masks and elbow-length gloves.

Amazon officials said they can get supplies on the ground after a hurricane or earthquake in 72 hours or less, thanks to pre-planning and help from a meteorologist. Leaders say time is precious in these situations.

“After a disaster happens, there are a lot of agencies, non-profits, corporations, a lot of different groups who respond after a disaster. Disaster is bigger than any one single group or organization,” Kirk said. “Preparedness is key. So, we strive to be prepared through these types of partnerships, to be prepared moving forward, but it’s also important that individuals, you and your family, are prepared.”