By Gregorie Michael Towai (Eipéráng)
Across the Pacific, island communities facing some of the harshest climate realities in the world are beginning to rethink what disaster preparedness and government resilience should actually look like. From community microgrids in Hawai’i, to elevated evacuation systems in Japan, to decentralized emergency storage in the Philippines, to climate adaptation frameworks emerging throughout Oceania, island governments are increasingly realizing that survival in the modern era depends not only on recovery, but on preparation, coordination, and innovation long before disaster strikes.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands should be part of that conversation.
Typhoon recovery in the Pacific can no longer operate under outdated assumptions where governments simply react after devastation occurs. Modern island resilience now depends on integrated communication systems, renewable backup infrastructure, localized emergency stockpiles, coordinated logistics, and governments capable of functioning as unified systems under pressure.
The CNMI has an opportunity to move in that direction if leaders are willing to treat recent disasters not merely as isolated emergencies, but as warnings that structural modernization can no longer wait.
Representative Marissa Flores recently raised an important point regarding government reorganization and the reality that many of the Commonwealth’s internal systems are no longer designed for the demands of modern disaster response. That observation deserves serious public discussion because many residents already experience these coordination gaps firsthand whenever typhoons disrupt power, communications, transportation, healthcare access, or basic services.
This should not be viewed as criticism of public workers themselves. Many government employees continue doing extraordinary work under limited staffing, aging infrastructure, fragmented systems, and resource constraints. The problem is deeper than individual departments. It is structural.
One of the most practical reforms the CNMI could pursue is the establishment of a permanent centralized resilience and emergency coordination authority operating year round. Disaster management should not become fully activated only after a storm warning is issued. Preparedness must become part of everyday governance.
Such a framework could unify emergency logistics, infrastructure coordination, communications, recovery planning, climate adaptation strategy, resource inventory management, and interagency operations into a single coordinated structure instead of scattering responsibilities across disconnected offices.
The CNMI should also invest in modern emergency management technology systems. During disasters, one of the greatest obstacles is fragmented information. Agencies often operate with separate reporting systems, inconsistent data, and delayed communication chains. A centralized digital emergency operations platform could provide real time mapping, shelter capacity tracking, medical resource coordination, fuel monitoring, road closures, utility restoration updates, and emergency supply inventories accessible across agencies simultaneously.
This is also where the recently launched Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program could become transformational for the Commonwealth if approached strategically. Too often broadband discussions are framed only around faster internet speeds or economic development. But for island communities vulnerable to natural disasters, resilient broadband infrastructure is also emergency infrastructure.
Reliable broadband and hardened communications networks can dramatically improve disaster coordination, interagency communication, telemedicine access, emergency alerts, remote education continuity, public information dissemination, and real time logistics management during crises. Expanding fiber infrastructure, redundant communication systems, satellite connectivity backups, and island wide resilient broadband access could help close many of the communication gaps that repeatedly slow coordination during emergencies.
The BEAD Program presents an opportunity not simply to modernize internet access, but to modernize governance capacity itself. If integrated properly into disaster preparedness planning, broadband infrastructure can become the digital backbone of a more coordinated and resilient Commonwealth.
Other Pacific jurisdictions are already moving toward these models because climate pressures are intensifying every year.
Another immediate solution involves decentralizing emergency supply reserves throughout the islands. Critical resources should not remain concentrated in limited locations vulnerable to transportation disruptions. Tinian, Rota, and multiple strategic areas across Saipan should maintain hardened emergency caches containing water purification systems, generators, solar charging units, medical supplies, satellite communications equipment, temporary shelter materials, and fuel reserves.
The Commonwealth should also aggressively expand renewable emergency infrastructure. Every typhoon demonstrates the fragility of centralized grids. Community solar microgrids, battery storage systems, portable desalination systems, hardened communication towers, and independent backup energy hubs would significantly improve continuity during prolonged outages.
Food security must also become central to disaster policy. The CNMI’s overwhelming dependence on imported food creates vulnerability every time shipping or port operations are interrupted. Supporting local agriculture, aquaculture, community gardens, food storage systems, and island appropriate farming initiatives is no longer just economic policy. It is strategic resilience policy.
The Pacific itself already offers many examples of innovation rooted in island realities. Some communities are blending traditional ecological knowledge with modern climate science. Others are designing disaster response systems around local village networks instead of purely centralized structures. In many cases, indigenous knowledge systems emphasizing collective responsibility, resource stewardship, and long term environmental awareness are proving highly compatible with modern resilience planning.
The CNMI should embrace that mindset rather than viewing resilience solely through short term emergency declarations and temporary recovery funding.
There must also be stronger formal integration between government agencies and community organizations before disasters occur. Churches, nonprofits, cultural organizations, diaspora networks, and volunteers repeatedly become the backbone of recovery efforts throughout the Marianas. Instead of relying on improvised coordination after storms, those partnerships should be institutionalized through formal preparedness frameworks, training programs, and communication networks established in advance.
Equally important is accountability. After every major disaster, the public deserves transparent evaluations detailing what systems failed, what resources were unavailable, where communication gaps occurred, and what reforms are being implemented before the next storm season arrives. Institutional memory should not disappear every election cycle.
Reorganization alone will not solve everything. Simply consolidating agencies without strategic planning risks creating larger bureaucracies with the same inefficiencies. But thoughtful modernization focused on coordination, technology, decentralization, renewable infrastructure, and preparedness can absolutely strengthen the Commonwealth for the future ahead.
The Pacific is already adapting because it has no choice.
The CNMI still has time to lead rather than lag behind.
The next storm will come. The real question is whether we continue rebuilding the same vulnerabilities afterward or finally begin building systems worthy of the resilience our people already demonstrate every single time disaster strikes.
Gregorie Michael Towai (Eipéráng) is a cultural advocate and independent researcher from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, currently residing in Oregon. He writes on Pacific governance, ocean policy and diaspora political affairs. ORCID: 0009-0002-3004-8972.
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMI News Service or its staff. All assertions are the sole responsibility of the writer. To submit an op-ed for consideration, email your piece to brad.ruszala@nminewsservice.com.