Out of the Whirlwind: Supply and Demand after Hurricane Maria

(Paperback)

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Out of the Whirlwind is a novel-like narrative report on how demand and supply networks in Puerto Rico responded to the impact of Hurricane Maria. Particular attention is given to water, food, and fuel. Both enterprise-level and individual decisions and their operational implications are described.

This book highlights maritime supply chains between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico; local efforts to restore and surge grocery supplies; commercial flows of food and fuel; the impact of the FEMA relief effort; and several previously untold aspects of demand and supply interacting under severe duress. The narrative is based on extensive interviews with survivors and post-event economic and inventory data. The final chapter underscores key principles of network science and outlines strategic implications for catastrophe preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. A detailed research bibliography is provided.



Supply chain managers are given insight into crisis management principles and practice. Emergency managers are able to look-inside as crucial private sector supply chains respond in real-time to disruption and destruction. Both private and public sector professionals are introduced to Network Science concepts that assist in diagnosis and prognosis of flows and failure-to-flow.

Reviews

The text should prompt readers within the emergency management profession to carefully examine basic economic conditions of supply, demand and, and economic signaling to be aware of the fallacy that comes with mistaking a lack of supply versus critical supply chain blockers. The text should serve as an important lesson learned for future federally funded relief operations with particular caution for future federally funded declarations in becoming subject to a slight variation of Parksinsons law; work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. In lieu of work and time, substitute commodities and perceived demand. While the focus of Palins text is self-declared as for supply chain students or practitioners, the text offers something educational for just about any reader. * Recovery Diva *
In his new book, Out of the Whirlwind; Supply and Demand After Hurricane Maria, Philip J. Palin uses a unique narrative approach to examine the post-Maria supply chain. He develops fictional characters amalgamated from interviews and real-world experiences to describe varying supply chain concepts and effects during the post-Maria recovery. The result is an engaging, novel-like narrative that highlights the importance of post-disaster supply-chain resilience. . . . These narratives describe, in arresting detail, supply-chain challenges for post-disaster recovery. From the end-point grocer to the distributor, the transporter to the federal coordinator, Palin touches on each level of a supply chain. Each story illustrates vividly not only what happened during the Maria recovery but what can be expected in other similar disasters. . . Emergency management practitioners and academics should take a keen interest in these narratives as illustrations of successes, challenges, and future problems within a post-disaster supply chain. * Homeland Security Affairs *
The narrative approach is compelling and needed as most of the supply chain research focuses on quantitative analysis. -- Naim Kapucu, University of Central Florida
Palin offers a unique approach to exploring issues pertaining to supply chain resilience. It builds off a recent example that we are still learning from--and that we will continue to learn from. -- Kyle Farmbry, Rutgers University-Newark
The authors background provides for a unique perspective that hasnot been attempted by a traditional quantitative-minded supply chain management professional or emergency management practitioner. As disaster relief is an interdisciplinary field, it requires contributions from professionals with the experiences such as those of Philip Palin. -- Thomas Ryan Brindle, Delta State University and Georgia Southern University

Author Bio

Philip J. Palin has served as the principal investigator for supply chain resilience with the Institute for Public Research at CNA Corporation and staff consultant on supply chain resilience with the Program on Risk, Resilience and Extreme Events at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. During most of the second half of 2017 he supported FEMAs response to hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. During the first half of 2018 he conducted a series of interviews with several dozen persons who were involved in supply chain operations during the three hurricanes.

He is also the author of several collections of poetry.