Disaster Response Case
Southeast Asia tsunami
Exactly one year after the foundation of DHL’s Disaster Response Team, in December 2004, a huge tsunami struck Southeast Asia – leaving behind a wave of destruction.
The immense suffering in the region triggered an equally great wave of support. The local airports, however, as the first points of call for incoming water, food, medicine, tents, blankets, and other basic supplies, quickly became congested bottlenecks.
Deployed to neighboring Sri Lanka, our team of 35 trained volunteers made the most of their logistics experience to coordinate all relief efforts at olombo airport. The highly complex choreography involved the flow of 7,000 tons of relief supplies, routed through an empty hangar.
Disaster Response Case
Southeast Asia tsunami
In the aftermath of the rebuilding efforts – and to help ensure that the region would never again suffer losses of this magnitude – DHL Asia-Pacific sponsored a detailed report on the lessons learnt and how governments, aid agencies, and companies could use these new insights to improve their last-mile disaster response.
