Amazon.com Inc.

06/04/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/04/2026 08:12

Amazon to provide 2,000 free rapid response technology systems that restore critical services in minutes

Key takeaways

  • Amazon will provide more than 2,000 rapid response technology systems to nonprofit partners at no cost by 2027-a 50x expansion from 42 systems delivered last year.
  • Each one restores a critical service (power, connectivity, or clean water) in a system one person can carry and set up in minutes.
  • The 10+ configurations include satellite-powered Wi-Fi, solar microgrids, water purification, terrain-mapping drones, and drone-detection technology-capabilities that typically cost agencies $40,000 to $250,000 each.
  • More than 800 systems ship this hurricane season from Amazon's Tennessee hub. After each disaster response, systems return to Amazon for refurbishment and reuse across multiple communities and events.
When Hurricane Melissa tore the roof off Cornwall Regional Hospital in Jamaica last October and cut all power and cell service, Amazon's rapid response technology arrived on a small cargo plane and restored satellite Wi-Fi and solar electricity to the hospital within minutes. Now Amazon is scaling that technology-making more than 2,000 systems available to nonprofit partners at no cost by 2027, up from 42 delivered last year. When a disaster strikes, the technology will be ready to go to five nonprofits at the center of recovery: the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, Footprint Project, Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, and Operation BBQ Relief.
Each system is self-contained and portable, restoring a single critical service when power, water, or cell service fails after a hurricane, wildfire, or other natural disaster. One produces clean drinking water from a contaminated source. Another uses drones to map dangerous terrain and locate survivors. Another stands up a satellite-powered Wi-Fi network. Others provide solar energy, charge medical devices, or power food-service operations. There are more than 10 configurations, each small enough for one person to carry and set up within minutes of arrival.

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

Abe Diaz shares how his team helps communities after hurricanes, earthquakes, and other disasters.

The technology is reusable. After a disaster response ends, nonprofits ship systems back to Amazon for inspection, refurbishment, and restocking. A single system serves multiple communities across multiple disasters, which extends the technology's reach and sustainability.
"A single person can carry this technology into a community after a disaster and restore hospital-grade connectivity in under 10 minutes," said Chief Sustainability Officer Kara Hurst. "That capability didn't exist at this scale before. We built it because communities shouldn't have to wait weeks for basic services to come back when we have the logistics network and technology to close that gap in hours."
The technology expansion adds to Amazon's broader disaster relief program, which has donated and delivered more than 26 million emergency supplies-tarps, blankets, diapers, water, solar batteries-to communities affected by more than 200 natural disasters since 2017. That program uses Amazon's global delivery network to move critical supplies to affected communities within hours, at no cost to them.

How Amazon's rapid response technology speeds recovery

When disasters knock out power and cell service, restoration can take weeks-leaving hospitals unable to coordinate care, shelters unable to power devices, and families cut off from emergency information. Traditional relief addresses immediate physical needs but does little to restore the systems communities depend on to function.
The technology that does exist is often out of reach. During the Los Angeles wildfires, unauthorized drones interfered with firefighting aircraft. Agencies like Cal Fire use drone-detection systems costing $40,000 to $250,000-but volunteer fire departments staffed by local residents cannot afford them. Amazon built drone-tracking capabilities into its rapid response technology systems so local agencies can locate unauthorized aircraft and prevent collisions, at no cost.
Amazon assessed needs across recent disasters and built the technology to address these gaps at scale, putting capabilities that would otherwise cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars into the hands of nonprofits and first responders at no cost.

How Amazon's rapid response technology restored a hospital in hours

Amazon volunteers load rapid response technology systems into a cargo plane bound for Kingston, Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa caused widespread devastation.
When Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica last October as a Category 5 storm, it tore the roof off Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay and cut off electricity and cell service. Hospital leaders had no way to coordinate care for critical patients.
Amazon worked with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center and Footprint Project to establish satellite connectivity and solar power to the hospital while crews worked to restore power. In the days after Melissa, Amazon donated 2,500 pounds of solar-powered batteries and satellite-powered Wi-Fi connectors to Cornwall and other damaged hospitals, police stations, and community centers.
"Hospital leaders needed a solution fast," said Jeffrey Schweitzer, Amazon's disaster relief innovation lead. "Within minutes of unloading our technology, the hospital had satellite Wi-Fi and solar power running. Staff could coordinate again. That's what this technology does: Close the gap between when infrastructure goes down and when it comes back."

How Amazon's rapid response technology systems help communities recover faster

The systems are produced for local first responders to use in the aftermath of disasters, designed to be as simple as flipping a light switch.

Where the technology will be available

Amazon plans to make at least 2,000 systems available by 2027, starting with more than 800 systems for the 2026 hurricane season from Amazon's technology hub near Nashville, Tennessee. By the end of 2027, additional systems will be stocked in California and Pennsylvania for coast-to-coast coverage in the U.S. and proximity to island communities often at risk from hurricanes.
At full scale, the program can power emergency operations at 130 shelters, hospitals, fire departments, or community centers simultaneously-enough off-grid energy to keep a 50-bed hospital running for 72 hours, serve more than 2,600 hot meals at a shelter, or run a portable oxygen machine for months nonstop.

How nonprofits use Amazon's rapid response technology

Amazon volunteers test rapid response technology systems for Wi-Fi connectivity during a field exercise in Virginia in 2025.
Nonprofit partners request systems through Amazon's disaster relief team based on what each response requires. When a disaster strikes, partners identify what has failed-power, water, connectivity-and Amazon matches the right configurations to those gaps. Packages ship from the nearest hub using the same delivery network that moves systems daily.
"We're repurposing the same infrastructure that ensures speed and reliability for customers worldwide to support communities after disasters," Schweitzer said. "The technology is easy to move, even when roads are impassable. They're customized to what a community actually needs. And after they're used, they come back to Amazon and get refurbished for the future."
Schweitzer, a decorated Army veteran, developed the 10 configurations after seeing the same failures repeat across Hurricane Helene, the Maui wildfires, and other recent disasters-communities cut off from power, communication, and clean water with no fast solution available.
Amazon volunteers sort donations in California for wildfire relief.
For World Central Kitchen, Amazon's systems solved challenging operational gaps during its Hurricane Melissa response. The nonprofit serves millions of hot meals to communities after disasters every year, often from trucks and vans. When the grid is down, solar power keeps kitchens running after dark, and reliable Wi-Fi enables chefs at different locations to coordinate menus, inventory, and supply routes.
"Without solar power, when the sun goes down, our food service or ability to communicate from truck to truck during an emergency response could stop," said Linda Roth, chief communications and strategy officer at World Central Kitchen. "After Hurricane Melissa, Amazon gave us batteries small enough for a chef to carry and load onto a food truck. That meant we could serve a hot meal to someone displaced from home at 9 p.m., not just at noon."

5 ways Amazon is giving back to communities across the US

We work with thousands of partners to address a range of critical social needs in our hometown communities and across the U.S.

The innovative technology deployed after Hurricane Melissa builds on years of partnership between Amazon and World Central Kitchen. Amazon prepares year-round for disasters by stocking its Disaster Relief hubs with supplies the nonprofit commonly needs and responds quickly when events occur. During the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, Amazon committed $10 million for relief and donated 500,000 emergency supplies to 29 nonprofits, including World Central Kitchen.
"Getting the right supplies to the right location at the right time after a major disaster is critical. Now, with this expanded partnership," Roth said, "we can envision a future in which power and connectivity won't be the bottleneck after a hurricane or wildfire. That changes everything for us."
Amazon.com Inc. published this content on June 04, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 04, 2026 at 14:12 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]