Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was the third in a row to qualify as “above-average” with respect to both total storms and total destruction. The eight hurricanes that made landfall in the Americas included Hurricane Michael, the first Category-5 storm to hit U.S. soil, and caused a combined $50 billion in damages.
In what’s become an annual tradition, DHL has published a predictive and prescriptive report to help organizations learn from last year and prepare their supply chains for the extreme weather ahead. “Companies should brace themselves,” the report reads, “for up to four major hurricanes in the Americas and 10 major typhoons in East Asia.”
Leveraging Resilience360, its cloud-based risk management platform, DHL identifies a number of manufacturing and logistics hubs that could experience could experience considerable disruption over the next several months. Pensacola, Tampa, and Miami each look especially vulnerable. What’s more, disruptions in these areas “may cause ripple effects through not just national but also international supply lines.”
2017’s Hurricane Maria ravaged public health supply chains throughout Puerto Rico for several months. DHL warns that this year’s storms could wreak similar havoc for the region’s pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
In addition to identifying high-risks regions and industries, DHL offers a series of short and long-term recommendations for mitigating hurricanes’ impact and preparing a speedy, effective response.