Amazon.com Inc.

04/16/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/16/2026 10:38

I lead Amazon's disaster relief team. Here's how we deliver supplies within hours globally.

Key takeaways

  • Amazon donates and delivers disaster relief supplies within hours using pre-stocked Disaster Relief hubs.
  • The team has donated and delivered more than 26 million supplies across more than 200 disasters worldwide.
  • Amazon shares drones, AI, vehicles, and tech kits to restore power and Wi-Fi at no cost to communities.
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico where hurricanes are a common occurrence. I experienced these disasters firsthand and watched how organizations like the American Red Cross and members of the community worked together to rebuild. I grew up knowing how important it was to be prepared when disaster strikes.
What I didn't know at that time was how that preparedness would support my career in years to come.
I started at Amazon in 2016 as a senior technical program manager building software to automate royalties for Prime Video. I was a year into that role when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, and I felt compelled to help. I emailed the Seattle office email list to rally support, and employees pointed me in the direction of Bettina Stix, who now leads Amazon's Community Impact programs.
Abe Diaz (center) leads the disaster relief team at Amazon. From left: Vidya Sampath, Arya Anand, Amanda Johson, Patrick Ruppenthal, and Samantha Shockley.
Bettina had just created a new disaster relief program to improve Amazon's support for communities affected by natural disasters. I reached out to her, and she told me they were getting ready to send their very first Amazon plane to Puerto Rico to deliver supplies for those affected by the storm, and she welcomed me to join the efforts as a volunteer.
I took two weeks away from my work with Prime Video to help coordinate the packing of the plane and delivery of supplies on the ground-it was an incredible experience. Immediately after we got back, I got a chance to make an impact again when Amazon landed another relief plane in the U.S. Virgin Islands in support of Hurricane Irma relief.
I was just a volunteer at that time, but two years later, I had the opportunity to take a leap from my role as a Prime Video technical program manager and join the disaster relief team full-time.

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Today, I lead the team that uses Amazon's global scale and strengths in logistics, innovation, and technology to help communities after major disasters strike.
We have donated and delivered more than 26 million relief supplies, from tarps to medical devices to diapers, to help communities recover in the aftermath of over 200 disasters around the world. We also deliver cutting-edge technology to nonprofits on the frontlines of recovery, so communities can light up their homes and connect with loved ones even when vital infrastructure is down.
Here's an inside look at how my team supports communities in the wake of disasters all around the world.

Preparation begins before disaster strikes

A Team Rubicon volunteer delivers Amazon-donated relief following a massive earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia.
Our work begins long before a disaster strikes.
We track emerging threats like hurricanes as they develop, relying on expertise from across our company, such as hour-by-hour assessments from our incredible meteorology team. If a hurricane or tornado hits and causes widespread devastation, we jump into action to find out what's needed from our trusted nonprofit partners on the ground, then consolidate, pack, and deliver the items at no cost to communities.

How Disaster Relief hubs enable rapid response

Workers from Naniq Global Logistics unload disaster relief supplies from a Prime Air flight in Anchorage, Alaska.
We always start any disaster response by listening to what's needed and where. We ask our nonprofit partners, including the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, and Save the Children, what unmet needs they have and how we can support.
One of our goals is to send exactly what's needed, where it's needed, when it's needed.
We respond within hours so communities can recover as quickly as possible. Sometimes, that involves sending planes to navigate over crumbled bridges or deploying trucks filled with supplies. For example, sometimes one part of the town doesn't need diapers, but the other side does. We gather information from first responders and local nonprofit leaders and work across the company to meet the most urgent needs.
Amazon donated and delivered diapers, medical devices, and other supplies to stock American Red Cross shelters after Typhoon Halong hit western Alaska.
This often means donating and delivering supplies from one of our Disaster Relief hubs, which are strategically located near disaster-prone areas and tarps, blankets, diapers, medical devices, and other items families often need when a disaster forces them from home.
Sometimes, like when a wildfire-affected community needed sifters to search for family heirlooms among ashes, we look beyond our hubs into the fulfillment centers that Amazon customers rely on every day to get packages to their doorsteps.
Employees help us pack the items into trucks and planes to ship them wherever they're needed.
Amazon volunteers prepare emergency supplies to help hundreds of communities recover from devastating floods in central and southeastern Mexico in 2025.
Our proactive efforts are powered by data. We aim to anticipate upcoming disaster requests and the necessary items we'll need to support. While every disaster is different, we now have a better understanding of which items communities will need most when certain disasters strike, and we work with our relief partners to pre-pack items at our Disaster Relief hubs and in their warehouses so they're ready before they're even needed.
The hub now has approximately 20,000 wildfire relief items-three times more than when it opened.
Our Disaster Relief hubs are designated disaster-relief sections inside select Amazon fulfillment centers. These prepositioning hubs are strategically located in areas that help us meet the needs of our partners.
We recently supported communities after the devastating wildfires in LA, Hurricane Helene in the Southeast U.S., and the floods in Spain.
We also recently expanded our specialized wildfire relief hub near Los Angeles, making sure to stock protective equipment that was in high demand after the worst residential wildfires in L.A.'s history.
Abe Diaz welcomes visitors to an Amazon Disaster Relief hub.
When powerful earthquakes took more than 56,000 lives after hitting Türkiye and Syria in 2023, part of my team in Seattle switched their hours to match the local time in Türkiye to make sure we had 24-hour coverage. We had trucks going from our facilities in Istanbul down to a very remote region of the country within days and two relief planes days after. It was like a miracle of modern logistics.

Innovation and technology in disaster response

Emergency supplies are prepared for a United Nations organization.
My team also develops and tests new innovations using the latest technology to enable more efficient disaster response and support for humanitarian efforts.
This team uses drones to assess damage after major hurricanes and wildfires and develops and deploystechnology kits that first responders can use to restore power and Wi-Fi connectivity after disaster strikes. We sent these easy-to-use kits to hospitals and community centers in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa.

How Amazon partners with the American Red Cross to make a difference

Learn more about our long-standing partnership, which helps communities recover faster from natural disasters.

We even have a fleet of Disaster Relief vehicles to test new ways to use AI and the cloud to help after major natural disasters.
One of our vehicles is complete with rugged off-road capabilities, which allow it to bring the power of the cloud to disconnected environments to ensure access to communications and computing technology. It was actually stored at my house for a day while it was on its way to another location. I had a lot of neighbors stop to ask about it.
Cayman Brownfield and other Amazon volunteers test internet solutions during a disaster simulation training in West Virginia

Listening to communities and nonprofit partners

At the end of the day, whether it's an earthquake that strikes with little to no notice, or a hurricane we've been preparing for over days, the most important part of our work is finding out what communities need and getting it to them as quickly as possible.
We're particularly careful to send only what is needed. We don't want to cause what we call a "second disaster," which would mean sending donations our partners and the community didn't ask for.
Shelves are stocked with emergency supplies at an Amazon Disaster Relief hub. The supplies are donated and delivered to nonprofits around the world that respond to disasters.
It takes a lot of work and a huge team coordination to consistently pull off these efforts, but I'm constantly motivated by the impact we're able to have.
I remember seeing photos of the pallets of products coming into the airport for that first relief effort in Puerto Rico, and I realized Amazon employees had written on them to share messages of support for their families and communities back home.
Moments like that are so powerful. Not only are we supporting the organizations that help communities rebuild after disasters, but we're also giving our employees an opportunity to help when disasters hit close to home.
I've been really fortunate to have had the opportunity to help grow this program. Our processes and capabilities have come so far since that first relief effort I joined in 2017, and we'll keep inventing and evolving to offer help where and when it's needed most.
Learn more about Disaster Relief by Amazon.
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