Biden OKs pre-landfall emergency declaration

President Joe Biden and Gov. Arnold I. Palacios

President Joe Biden approved yesterday the request of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios for the declaration of a pre-landfall emergency in the CNMI in response to the approaching Super Typhoon Mawar.

Biden declared yesterday morning that an emergency exists in the CNMI through a Presidential Emergency Declaration, which frees up federal resources that could be tapped to assist the CNMI.

Through the declaration, Biden ordered that federal assistance be used to supplement Commonwealth and local response efforts. The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.

FEMA representative Brian Beck said that an Incident Management Assistance team of over 50 individuals has been deployed to Guam in response to Super Typhoon Mawar emergency efforts. These resources will then be mobilized to the CNMI either before or after Mawar makes landfall, thanks to Biden’s declaration.

In addition, through the declaration, Beck said the Department of Defense is now able to provide assistance to the CNMI.

Benigno B. Ruiz of FEMA has been appointed to coordinate federal recovery operations in the CNMI.

Palacios expressed gratitude for Biden’s swift action to his request. “We are thankful to President Biden, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for their quick response to the CNMI’s request for an emergency declaration. The presidential declaration expands the ongoing and recovery efforts in response to Typhoon Mawar, including the deployment of additional resources to Rota, which is located in a more direct path of the storm,” he said.

The request for the pre-landfall emergency declaration was signed by Palacios last Monday in consultation with CNMI’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office.

“We are taking other proactive measures to help mobilize additional resources in this storm. The CNMI’s resilience has grown and expanded, having experienced other typhoons these past few years. Nonetheless, we want to maximize and deploy all assistance available to our community as they face yet another natural disaster,” said Palacios.