Overview

Severe hurricanes can cause massive disruption, leaving businesses struggling to protect their employees and maintain operations. When destructive storms struck the U.S., causing widespread damage from Florida to Virginia, organisations turned to International SOS for immediate crisis support. With dedicated response teams on the ground, we provided critical assistance, including emergency evacuations, supply drops, and welfare checks, ensuring the safety and well-being of affected employees.

Problem

In October 2024 the United States was hit by consecutive destructive hurricanes that caused widespread damage, flooding and disruption in parts of Florida through central Appalachia. Hurricane Milton was largely confined to central Florida, while Hurricane Helene’s path stretched from Florida to Virginia and states in between.

Solution

For both events, a Regional Crisis Management Team was activated within the Philadelphia Assistance Centre comprised of dedicated operational and security personnel to manage cases attributed to the hurricanes.

An Incident Management Team was staged in Florida to facilitate intelligence, provider networking and deliver assistance as needed. Our accredited and credentialed network of security and logistics providers facilitated ground transportation, supply drops, evacuation support, consulting, and welfare checks.

Impact

Hurricane Helene saw 15 requests for assistance while Hurricane Milton produced seven requests for assistance from clients. These ranged from welfare checks to emergency supply drops of food, fuel and generators as well as security protection and lodging accommodations. We enabled our clients to make real-time decisions, actionable decisions based on ever-changing conditions.

The information International SOS gathered was first-hand, verifiable, and rapid. Instead of relying on open source or news to verify damage, International SOS logistics specialists were on the roads, at the grocery stores and gathering information about safe locations. That intelligence was shared immediately with clients who were looking for solutions for their domestic employees.

ROI

With Workforce Resilience from International SOS, clients helped their employees through the challenging environment, providing Duty of Care in their time of need. Employees did not have to go searching on their own for emergency accommodations and even supplies like food, water, medications and generator power.