Kathy Fulton, executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), offers guidance on how companies and logistics operations can best prepare for natural disasters.

ALAN is a non-profit formed in 2005 by members of the supply chain and logistics industry “to be their response arm” to natural disasters, Fulton says. Participating companies donate services, equipment, facilities and expertise to the group in times of crisis.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ALAN created a Supply Chain Intelligence Center. In partnership with Everstream Analytics, the initiative offers a map-based platform that details what’s happening at major points of supply chain infrastructure across the country. It provides free access to real-time updates on weather, as well as predictions for the next 10 days. “It allows our nonprofit and business partners to see what’s going on with the infrastructure they have to traverse,” Fulton says.

For companies looking to assess and keep tabs on the lifecycle of a particular disaster, “the best thing to do is to always go back to your basics,” Fulton says. That means fully mapping your supply chain and ensuring access to trusted sources of information such as ALAN. Then make sure that you’re communicating that information to customers and supply chain partners.

A disaster preparedness plan can take various forms, depending on the industry. Fulton says companies need to decide which aspects of their operations are of greatest importance in a crisis, then devise a way of addressing those elements. She recommends drawing on templates offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the URL ready.gov.

It’s equally important, Fulton says, that individuals have personal preparedness plans to cope with disasters.

As to who within the organization should oversee preparedness, Fulton says the precise title of that individual is less important than the fact of their existence. “As long as they have some responsibility to keep up with what’s happening in a crisis, then you’re going to be in a much better position than when it’s just a portion of somebody’s job,” she says.