{"639346":{"#nid":"639346","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rebuild Supply Chains for Quicker Hurricane Recovery ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;By Ben Brumfield\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlleviating suffering more effectively in the wake of hurricanes may require a shift in relief strategies, says a committee \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nap.edu\/read\/25490\/chapter\/1\u0022\u003Ereport by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and\u0026nbsp;Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the immediate aftermath, relief agencies rush in survival supplies like water, food, medicine, and\u0026nbsp;blankets. But instead of prioritizing and maintaining the relief supply chains, restoring a normal supply infrastructure could help more people more quickly. That\u0026rsquo;s the first recommendation from over 125 pages of case studies and analyses, issued by an eight-member National Academies committee that included Pinar\u0026nbsp;Keskinocak,\u0026nbsp;William W. George Chair and Professor at the\u0026nbsp;H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFollowing\u0026nbsp;a hurricane, mangled homes and roads, contaminated water, and shortages of everything compound suffering.\u0026nbsp;The report noted that restoring\u0026nbsp;supply lines, primarily\u0026nbsp;within\u0026nbsp;the private sector, would accelerate recovery\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;but relief efforts can unintentionally conflict with that.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Relief supply chains inevitably compete with regular supply chains, given limited resources such as transportation. If the focus is primarily on pushing relief supply rather than restoring infrastructure and supply chains to normalcy, we may unwittingly delay recovery and prolong the aftermath,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;Keskinocak, who is also director of\u0026nbsp;Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chhs.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECenter for Health and Humanitarian Systems.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2017,\u0026nbsp;after\u0026nbsp;hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and\u0026nbsp;Maria\u0026nbsp;(Maria\u0026nbsp;killed over 3,000 people),\u0026nbsp;the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)\u0026nbsp;assigned the National Academies to make recommendations on improving relief response. \u0026ldquo;We spoke to stakeholders in affected areas\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;local governments, businesses, health systems, and\u0026nbsp;more. We learned about the impact of storms on their community, what their participation was in the response process, and what went well and not so well,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Keskinocak\u0026nbsp;said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChallenges\u0026nbsp;to\u0026nbsp;coordinating\u0026nbsp;resource allocation, especially\u0026nbsp;the\u0026nbsp;logistics, have\u0026nbsp;hindered\u0026nbsp;recovery. This led to the report\u0026rsquo;s other major recommendations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Areas where hurricanes may strike need to get a good understanding of how supply chains work under normal conditions along with their vulnerabilities, or weak links, so they can be proactive in strengthening supply,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Keskinocak\u0026nbsp;explained.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDisaster preparedness requires collaboration\u0026nbsp;among\u0026nbsp;government, relief agencies, and\u0026nbsp;the private sector. All sectors would benefit from\u0026nbsp;learning about\u0026nbsp;supply chain dynamics and sharing public-private partnership best practices.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;After a big storm strikes, it is typically not possible for any one entity to handle it all alone,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Keskinocak\u0026nbsp;said. \u0026ldquo;Organizations such as\u0026nbsp;FEMA\u0026nbsp;could play the role of a convener to ensure various organizations collaborate, coordinate, and share information well ahead of time and in the aftermath.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe report recommends\u0026nbsp;a\u0026nbsp;focus on preparedness\u0026nbsp;rather than\u0026nbsp;post-disaster response. This could help alleviate situations in which\u0026nbsp;FEMA\u0026nbsp;marshals\u0026nbsp;ample supplies but then finds that these\u0026nbsp;supplies are not needed or cannot be effectively distributed to those in need.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I have the utmost respect for what\u0026nbsp;FEMA\u0026nbsp;does because they have to work under the most difficult circumstances, and these conditions may put them into binds that are out of their control,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Keskinocak\u0026nbsp;said. \u0026ldquo;More preparedness on the ground could help get\u0026nbsp;FEMA, local governments, private sector, and\u0026nbsp;nongovernmental relief agencies to achieve synergies for saving lives and\u0026nbsp;to\u0026nbsp;alleviate suffering.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlleviating suffering more effectively in the wake of hurricanes may require a shift in relief strategies, says the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Alleviating suffering more effectively in the wake of hurricanes may require a shift in relief strategies, says\u00a0the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and\u00a0Medicine."}],"uid":"28766","created_gmt":"2020-09-21 16:01:32","changed_gmt":"2020-09-21 22:43:52","author":"Shelley Wunder-Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"639332":{"id":"639332","type":"image","title":"2020 has seen a highly active hurricane season, with a total so far of 24 tropical or subtropical cyclones, 23 named storms, eight hurricanes, and two major hurricanes.","body":null,"created":"1600699472","gmt_created":"2020-09-21 14:44:32","changed":"1600699472","gmt_changed":"2020-09-21 14:44:32","alt":"2020 has seen a highly active hurricane season, with a total so far of 24 tropical or subtropical cyclones, 23 named storms, eight hurricanes, and two major hurricanes.","file":{"fid":"243086","name":"Hurricane_SQ.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Hurricane_SQ.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Hurricane_SQ.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":562638,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Hurricane_SQ.jpg?itok=AWoDmdIM"}},"639348":{"id":"639348","type":"image","title":"Pinar Keskinocak","body":null,"created":"1600704217","gmt_created":"2020-09-21 16:03:37","changed":"1600704217","gmt_changed":"2020-09-21 16:03:37","alt":"Pinar Keskinocak","file":{"fid":"243091","name":"Pinar head shot Best_Square.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Pinar%20head%20shot%20Best_Square_4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Pinar%20head%20shot%20Best_Square_4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":948595,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Pinar%20head%20shot%20Best_Square_4.jpg?itok=zV3kLwxj"}}},"media_ids":["639332","639348"],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"},{"id":"1250","name":"Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (CHHS)"},{"id":"1243","name":"The Supply Chain and Logistics Institute (SCL)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1239","name":"Pinar Keskinocak"},{"id":"1706","name":"National Academies"},{"id":"82","name":"hurricanes"},{"id":"167074","name":"Supply Chain"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:swundersmith3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["swundersmith3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}