Emergency Management in Action: Restoring Emergency Communications After Typhoon Sinlaku

This week, Typhoon Sinlaku caused widespread damage to critical infrastructure in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), heavily damaging Saipan’s sole public safety communications tower.  

This is not just a radio tower- it’s the backbone for public safety and first responder communications, supporting police, fire, emergency teams and power restoration crews. The tower site was inaccessible due to debris, further complicating restoration efforts. Without a way for responders to communicate with each other, every part of the response would be more complex and less coordinated. Restoring emergency communications was a top priority.

Mutual Support

Emergency management starts locally. To move quickly and efficiently, CNMI and Guam turned to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). EMAC is a nationwide mutual aid agreement that allows states and territories to share resources like personnel, equipment, or expertise with each other during disasters and emergencies.

Through EMAC, Guam Police Department provided two antennas and other necessary parts and equipment. These items were prioritized for transport and scheduled on the first available flight to Saipan to support temporary restoration of the island’s emergency communications capability while longer-term repairs and permanent solutions are developed.

An additional request was submitted through EMAC to Hawaii and the state responded immediately by sending a specialized expert in emergency communications.

EMAC does more than move equipment; it connects jurisdictions with the people and skills they need to solve complex problems during a disaster. This territory-to-territory support helps ensure that critical equipment can arrive as quickly as possible. Building on this collaborative approach, the FEMA Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group also helped develop the relationships necessary to acquire the assets and technical expertise needed to get the antennas operational.

Federal Support

Emergency management is federally supported. As territorial partners coordinated equipment and logistics, the federal government provided additional support and technical expertise.

Representatives from FEMA’s Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) deployed with the shipment of parts from Guam to Saipan. FEMA MERS, FEMA ESF 2 and CISA teams specialize in deploying temporary communications capabilities and providing highly trained technical staff during disasters.

In this case, the federal communications task force along with the territorial government helped:

• Support the temporary restoration of the tower’s communications capabilities.
• Assist local and territorial partners with technical planning and implementation.
• Enable emergency response and power restoration teams to re-establish reliable communications quickly.

The Ripple Effect 

Restoring the island’s emergency communications capability is more than installing a temporary antenna, it has a ripple effect across the entire response:

• Law enforcement and other first responders can better coordinate patrols, traffic control, search and rescue efforts and emergency calls.
• Utility and engineering teams can communicate more effectively in the field, bolstering energy restoration across the island.
• Medical facilities and shelters can more easily coordinate support for residents, especially those in vulnerable or hard-to-reach areas.

Restoring communications also restores the connections that allow every other part of the response and recovery to move forward and ultimately supporting the island’s recovery.

Emergency Management in Action

This effort is a clear example of emergency management working as it should:

• Local and territorial officials identified the need and led the effort.
• EMAC enabled Guam and Hawaii to provide critical parts, personnel and expertise.
• FEMA and CISA provided federal support to fill gaps as needed.

FEMA supports states, territories and local governments as they lead disaster response and recovery. As work continues to restore permanent communications and other critical infrastructure, these partnerships will remain essential to helping the CNMI recover from this storm and prepare for future emergencies.