Thousands of Travelers Face Extreme Weather Every Year. This Firm Comes to the Rescue.

It was a desperate situation. A team of National Geographic Society scientists was in Bangladesh in late 2019, attempting to sail up the Ganges. Their craft had hardly made it out of the Bay of Bengal when they realized they were on a collision course with Cyclone Bulbul, which was gaining steam over the Pacific. Like many storms lately, it had grown bigger and stronger faster than anyone had predicted, thanks to higher-than-normal water temperatures. The team suddenly found itself in harm’s way.

When National Geographic called Global Rescue LLC, onetime Navy SEAL Harding Bush was on duty at the group’s Lebanon, N.H., command center. His team located the explorers via GPS and assessed their danger level, which was, indeed, very high. He told them to dock at the other side of the river, where the ground was higher, then contacted a local crisis service to meet and escort them to safety. His team checked in every hour until they were out of jeopardy.