Weathering the Storm: How Tech Powers The Home Depot’s Hurricane Response

In seconds, a hurricane can change everything. As unpredictable as these storms can be, the response to them cannot be left to chance. When communities in the path of a storm need a lifeline, The Home Depot is often considered essential infrastructure, providing the tools and materials necessary to prepare and rebuild.

While our orange aprons are the visible front line, a massive, data-driven technology engine runs behind the scenes. Our Emergency Command Center in Atlanta, GA, organizes more than 100 expert associates across the business in real-time ahead of a storm. This central hub acts as the "brain" of the operation, ensuring that local communities have access to life-saving supplies while prioritizing the safety of our associates.

Predictive and Proactive Supply Chain Logistics

Keeping the Lights On: Store Resiliency Tech

When a storm hits, our stores often become command centers for first responders and relief agencies like FEMA and the American Red Cross. To ensure we can serve the community even when the local power grid fails, we rely on Store Resiliency Tech.

This critical resiliency effort is spearheaded by our Technology Command Center Emergency Response Team (TCCERT). All year, the Technology Support Center (TSC) monitors for emergency weather or man-made events, mobilizing into the TCCERT command role once an event is identified. The team's operational impact is massive: they managed 60 events across 792 sites in 2024, 35 events across 76 sites in 2025, and 15 events across 60 sites so far in 2026.

To maintain visibility, TCCERT relies on proprietary dashboards like Vision, which tracks geographical representation and the transactional communication status of our stores, and OneSupport, which monitors overall store system status.

Inventory Tracking in Your Pocket with The Home Depot Mobile App

In the chaos of storm preparation, timing is critical. The Home Depot App is designed to be a tool for customers needing emergency supplies quickly.

How has technology changed the way your team prepares for a hurricane compared to five years ago?

Our cross-functional coordination and data sharing are faster than ever. We recently created new reporting that updates our Distribution Center on-hand inventory every single hour, and we share that data across all teams. Previously, this was a manual process used only internally by our IPR team. We also now hold twice-daily supply chain calls to discuss operations gaps and track open orders, which keeps everyone perfectly aligned.

What is the most critical piece of tech your team relies on in the 48 hours before landfall?

Our Emergency Visibility tool is crucial. It's what we use for general purchase order tracking and identifying any orders with missed service-level agreements. During peak response, we partner closely with merchants and the supply chain to expedite trucks with the most needed products. Relying on our tracking systems, which update every 15 minutes, allows us to expedite flow and rapidly respond to exactly what the field needs.

When the storm passes, how do we use tech to help communities rebuild?

It starts with data scrubbing. Our forecasting team goes into the system and removes the peak storm sales impact, so it doesn't artificially inflate our long-term regular replenishment. Then, using our Relex forecasting system and historical sales data, we identify the product categories that communities will need for long-term recovery-like cleaning and rebuilding supplies. We use those insights to immediately increase flow, ensuring stores have full bay replenishment and incremental depth for the items our customers need most.