On 11/5/2012 12:15 PM, dpb wrote:
....

...just piling up a bunch of
miscellaneous items somewhere, throwing them in the back of a truck and
heading off can create more hassle than benefit or end up in stuff just
sitting somewhere because there is no way to get them distributed.

After Katrina and in many of the other Gulf hurricane aftermaths there
have been trailer loads of ice sent that ended up just melting when
refrigerated trailers ran out of diesel for the coolers before ever had
a chance to get somewhere that could offload...sometimes drivers would
just park along side of a road somewhere and manage to get some of it to
folks but much is wasted that way unless it is part of some plan that
includes somebody expecting it and there being a way to get it to
somebody/somewhere that has a way to handle it in a timely fashion.

Remember that normal logistics in the aftermath is essentially
non-existent...and you can't just show up w/ a tractor trailer and
expect there to be a warehouse and refrigeration and forklifts, etc.,
etc, etc., ...

All the major relief agencies have warehouses of nonperishables and such
things as tents, blankets, cots, etc., etc, etc., ... that they can
access immediately and they have the plans in place for distributing
them and the experience dealing with the chaotic situations. The need
thereafter then is to replace these consumables for the next major
disaster where again "cash is king"...and again, various relief
organizations have split up areas of responsibility amongst themselves
by arrangement to avoid all trying to do the same thing at the expense
of some other area not getting any attention. As noted, the
organization w/ which I work is primarily the one that is still around
and really begins to step to the fore when FEMA, insurance and all the
other early responders haven't been able for one reason or another to
solve a particular problem. We have early responders, too, but that's
not our major focus...

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