The number of disasters has increased over recent years and hundreds of millions of people are affected each year. The impact of disasters and the massive scale of recent global relief efforts have brought growing attention to the need for effective and efficient disaster response operations. After a literature review, we could conclude that quick response to the urgent relief needs right after disasters through efficient emergency logistics distribution is vital to the alleviation of disaster impact in the affected areas.
Although logistics is, nowadays, the largest and most complex element of relief operations, the most relief workers normally see it only as a series of local, disconnected activities. Improvement of emergency logistics is essential and could result in optimization of the humanitarian relief by better preparedness. All the information compiled and the activities carried out at the planning and preparation stage should serve as the basis for the development of the logistics plan, which must spell out procedures, responsibilities and timetables for implementation of a supply chain of emergency supplies.
The logistic chain of humanitarian supplies is necessary in order to achieve a balance between speed, security, storage and transport costs, before, during and after a disaster, natural or man-made.