One of the few certainties of natural disasters is that it is difficult to predict where and when they will occur. Amazon has opened a 10,000-square-foot disaster relief facility near Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) and has forward stocked it with more than 500,000 pre-positioned or donated emergency supplies that can be loaded onto a cargo flight on short notice and quickly dispersed in response to natural disasters across the southeastern U.S., Caribbean and Central America.

The facility houses common relief supplies like tents, water containers and filters, medical equipment, and clothing ready to load onto an Amazon Air 767 freighter in the event of an emergency. The facility will support six global humanitarian aid organizations, including the American Red Cross, Direct Relief, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Medical Corps, Save the Children and World Central Kitchen.