More Logistics Hubs Key to Disaster Response

Miami would be a prime location for a logistics depot that would respond to disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean, a UPS air cargo executive says.

Relief organizations need to pre-position more aid supplies around the globe, and Miami’s location and role as an air cargo hub connecting Latin America and the United States make it an ideal site, said Tom O’Malley, vice president of air cargo at UPS Americas.

“In this region we face earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes, and [relief organizations] may want to focus more on Miami as a logistics center,” O’Malley said. “I know there’s concern about Miami, as it sometimes faces hurricanes itself,” but it has very capable logistics resources, infrastructure and capacity, he said.

O’Malley believes more “logistics clusters” are needed around the globe, expanding on the depots operated by the United Nations World Food Program. The WFP has UN Humanitarian Response Depots in Italy, Dubai, Ghana, Panama and Malaysia.

The Panama City depot was overwhelmed by the enormous demand following the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti, he said. More than 2 million people displaced by the quake need food, water, medical assistance and housing.

Governments around the world and relief organizations should enter “blanket pre-purchase agreements,” said José Holguín-Veras, an engineering professor and expert in humanitarian logistics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

About 100 different items would satisfy 80 percent of the immediate needs in the wake of a disaster, said Holguín-Veras. “These supplies need to be the first wave of resources. In the time it takes to purchase supplies and get a humanitarian supply chain going, you arrive with aid a week or more after the disaster.”

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.