Map of the Month: NOAA Hurricane Track (1842-present)
This incredible map shows the track of every (nearly 12,000) recorded hurricane since 1842. Not only is this map stunning, it also provides a clear visual representation of the importance of understanding your supply chain and having plans in place to handle large scale weather disruptions that might impact it.
According to Dr. Tom Jeffery, senior hazard risk scientist at CoreLogic, “ports and warehouses are especially vulnerable to hurricane driven storm surge due to their location on or near the coast, as well as the fact they are often not built very far above ocean level.” This puts many of them at the highest risk of flooding damage from a storm surge. Even a relatively small Category 1 hurricane could generate a storm surge with enough power to damage harbors in many areas.
Speaking about Hurricane Isaac, the Insurance Information Institute (III) noted that “even for companies far from the eye of the storm, the impact of Isaac could have been significant, namely lost profits resulting from broken supply chains and absent business customers, as well as from the lengthy disruption of one of the country’s largest commercial ports.”
Once you've mapped your supply chain, it becomes much easier to understand and prioritize vulnerabilities. To streamline this process we have integrated three features into our software:
- Automated risk exposure modeling to compare the risk at every site in the supply chain
- Risk probability 'heat maps' to gauge the relatively probability of adverse events, and
- Real-time disruption alerts
In combination, these features can determine the risk an event poses to a supply chain and guide planning and response. As FIA said in an industry overview of the impact of Hurricane Sandy, “those that planned well - generally fared well.”
Want to learn more about creating an effective plan for extreme weather events?