The Port of Honolulu and its terminal operations have been closed since Wednesday afternoon as a powerful hurricane is barreling down on the Hawaiian islands, and logistics firms from across the country are being asked to prepare to lend a hand if the storm causes damage.
As of 5 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time on Thursday, the category 4 Hurricane Lane was 210 miles south-southwest of the Big Island’s Kona Coast, or about 305 miles south of Honolulu, according to The Weather Channel. The hurricane was moving northwest at 7 miles per hour with winds up to 130 miles per hour.
Meanwhile, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), a philanthropic industry organization that provides free logistics assistance to disaster relief organizations, is mobilizing to offer help.
“After closely monitoring Hurricane Lane for the past several days, we believe it has the potential to be a powerful and damaging event,” said Kathy Fulton, ALAN executive director, in a statement Thursday. “As a result, we could be facing a substantial need for donated transportation, space, services and equipment. And we are mobilizing accordingly.”
ALAN has launched a Hurricane Lane webpage via its website, www.alanaid.org, that allows organizations to view and offer support for urgent logistics needs, monitor the path of the storm and get updates about road, port and other area conditions.
“Few things are more challenging than figuring out how to get critical items like food, water, medicine and temporary shelter to impacted areas immediately after disasters strike — which is exactly what ALAN and its members are here to do,” Fulton said.
While ALAN won’t know exactly what kinds of logistics support will be needed until after the storm passes, logistics firms can help by pre-offering equipment, space or services and by passing along links to ALAN’s website and social media channels to other logistics companies that may be interested in assisting with relief efforts.
“Over the years we’ve seen some potentially catastrophic hurricanes that have turned into relatively minor events while others have morphed into far more major events than originally anticipated,” she said. “Obviously, we hope Lane will turn out to be the former. However if it isn’t, we want people to remember that we are here to help — and that when it comes to these storms, there’s no such thing as too ready.”
Since its founding in 2005, ALAN has coordinated supply chain services to assist with the aftermath of natural disasters across the country, including hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and floods.
With the terminal closure, ocean carrier APL said the JRS Corus, which was scheduled to berth at the Port of Honolulu on Wednesday, is now expected to berth in Honolulu on Monday.