disaster response is all about logistics.
https://twitter.com/CZEdwards/status/1344044671174111234
The main reason the Katrina response failed was logistics. Part of that logistics failure was driven by people not caring enough, but part of it was cost-cutting and restructuring, a lot of it related to the establishment of Dept Homeland Security.
A big part of the reason that the Japan tsunami response wasn't worse was because of the voluntary and proactive contributions of private logistics actors - local trucking associations, national shipping companies.
Local trucking associations often had a seat in the prefectural crisis center. Some places had agreements in place for assistance BEFORE disaster happened. FEMA, otoh, was trying to negotiate trucking contracts after Katrina hit and finally handed off wholesale to the DoD
Major logistics companies like kuroneko (similar to DHL) offered their services to hard-hit municipalities. And even they found it a challenge, because humanitarian logistics are different from commercial logistics - read Holguín-Veras on that: transp.rpi.edu/~jhvweb/index.…
which is also why there is an entire profession of logisticians working in international response. There is an international @logcluster.
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