Amazon supports communities impacted by flash flooding in south-eastern Spain

In the wake of the devastating floods in Spain, Amazon mobilized resources to support impacted communities across Valencia, Andalucia, and other eastern and southern parts of the country.

Amazon’s Disaster Relief & Response team is working closely with local partners and humanitarian organizations to assess needs and rapidly deliver critical resources to people in need.

Last week, Amazon activated its Disaster Relief Hub in Germany, mobilizing logistics infrastructure and resources to provide immediate aid to the affected regions. Launched in March 2024, the Hub is the first of its kind in Europe and allows Amazon to quickly deliver humanitarian aid to support communities in crisis across the continent within 72 hours of a relief organization’s request.

This week, Amazon collaborated with nonprofit partner Altius Foundation to set up a temporary 2,000 m² Disaster Relief Hub in Valencia in just 48 hours to support critical response needs on the ground and bring immediate relief to the infrastructure-strained region. Open seven days a week, the temporary hub has already received 25 truckloads with 100,000 essential items; an additional 35 loads are expected to arrive before the start of next week. Located next to the port of Valencia, this temporary hub is run by a team of over 1,500 volunteers and serves as a collection and distribution point for blankets, sheets, mattresses, pet food, and more.

Since the DANA impacted the region, Amazon’s relief efforts have also included:

• Bulk Donations of Essential Supplies: Amazon has donated and delivered more than 30 truckloads with over 160,000 essential items from across its network to affected areas. The critical supplies includes shovels, flood mitigation kits, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, non-perishable food, mattresses, and more.
• Middle & Last-Mile Delivery: Amazon has leveraged its network capabilities to offer on-demand logistical assistance to local administrations and NPOs. This includes the collection, shipping and strategic distribution of donations between various critical points, all in accordance with the specific needs of our partners. We have fully dedicated approximately 30 trucks for middle mile transportation and ten vans for last mile delivery to support relief efforts, covering routes of over 15,000 km to date and addressing a pertinent need given the number of vehicles that were swept away by the floods.
• Advanced Technology Support: The Valencia Government Health Department requested support from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to manage multi-channel communications for local citizens and healthcare volunteers. In response, a team of AWS solution architects, vertical leaders, partner team, and the account’s commercial team helped deploy resources to assist them. Additionally, AWS Social Responsibility & Impact (SRI) has given $250,000 in cloud credits to help underwrite this service.

“Amazon has logistical capabilities, inventory, technology and a close relationship with the organisations supporting the community,” said Jorge Gómez Martín, co-lead at Amazon’s relief efforts in Valencia. “That’s why, when a natural disaster like the one we’re seeing here in Valencia occurs, we mobilise quickly to help affected communities.”