We learned from hurricanes Andrew, Katrina, Ike, et al., that the most effective planners for hurricane relief were those responding to the profit motive --- firms like Walmart and Home Depot for example. Based on their data analysis, they planned in advance to have supplies on hand before the hurricanes struck, to make sure they could reopen quickly after the hurricanes, and to have supplies on hand quickly after the storms passed.
We're seeing it again as Irene approaches the US East Coast. From NPR, no less [h/t Cafe Hayek]:
Forecasters don't expect Hurricane Irene to make landfall until Saturday. But for nearly a week now, big-box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot have been getting ready.
They've deployed hundreds of trucks carrying everything from plywood to Pop-Tarts to stores in the storm's path. It's all possible because these retailers have turned hurricane preparation into a science — one that government emergency agencies have begun to embrace.
At Home Depot's Hurricane Command Center in Atlanta, for example, about 100 associates have been trying to anticipate how Irene will affect its East Coast stores from the Carolinas to New York.
At times like this, the Command Center looks much like NASA Mission Control during a shuttle launch, says Russ Householder, the company's emergency-response captain....
[D]istrict managers have been focusing on stocking a short list of items, Householder says, including generators, chain saws, water and tarps.
Householder says those supplies are flowing to stores because of a process that began months ago, at the beginning of hurricane season.
"We take storm product, both pre- and post-strike product, we stage those in containers and we have them in our distribution centers, really ready for a driver to pull up and pick up and take them to our stores," he says.
Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek adds,
... when you and your neighbors are homeless, hungry, and thirsty following a natural disaster, would you prefer to rely upon the devotion to public service that allegedly motivates FEMA workers, or to rely upon the devotion to their own self-interests that undoubtedly motivates executives, workers, and suppliers of private companies such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot?
After watching the comparative successes of market forces vs. bureaucrats, despite the imperfections of the market, I'd rather trust it.