ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ

Since the startling in January 2018, Hawaii has weathered a relentless storm of natural and manmade disasters. It’s been a convulsive journey, and there’s no sign of it calming on the horizon.

In 2018, Kauai grappled with , while Hawaii island faced a . The Covid-19 pandemic turned our lives upside down in 2020 and 2021, with masks and social distancing becoming the new norm.

Just as the pandemic started to recede, the Ukrainian-Russian War erupted in 2022, and causing food and fuel prices to soar. Now the state faces what is perhaps in our history with the widespread destruction of the Maui wildfires.

Unfortunately, the future holds no respite. Climate change is a real player in extreme weather events, with record-high ocean temperatures and the ever-present El Nino effect. Though we’ve been fortunate regarding hurricanes lately, our luck won’t last forever. Climate change .

Manmade disasters also lurk on the horizon, with tensions between China, Taiwan, and the U.S. threatening . Additionally, the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative jeopardizes .

These five years have tested our resilience, but we can’t afford complacency. The next crisis won’t wait for us to be ready. Signs of strain are visible, and our capabilities are stretched thin. It’s time our leaders took proactive steps to prepare Hawaii for the uncertain challenges ahead.

Improve Infrastructure And Communications

Back in 2019 the Hawaii chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers as a D-plus. The Maui wildfires have exposed in dramatic fashion how unready we were. Communications and are still struggling to come back online.

Water insecurity in a county already affected by drought is worsened as the fires have damaged or polluted key infrastructure and reservoirs. The role downed power lines and lack of planning played in the generating this fire disaster is already a source of contention.

Manmade threats also threaten our critical infrastructure. Last year, Homeland Security investigations thwarted on a critical undersea cable that provides communication links between Hawaii and the mainland. Malign were charged by the FBI back in 2018 with hacking state computer systems. Any potential war in the Indo-Pacific, particularly involving China and Taiwan, would put us at severe risk as a major military hub.

Fortunately, there are actions we can take now to prepare. We should continue to push the renewable energy transition, lessening dependance on imported fuel in the face of global supply chain difficulties.

More hyper-local energy generation from small solar and wind farms would reduce the need for cross island power cables that are vulnerable during extreme weather events. When the Ukrainian-Russian War broke out, driving up energy prices, the impact was mitigated on Kauai thanks to foresightful planning efforts to reduce dependance on imported, non-renewable energy.

Taking a longer view, Hawaii should consider investing in nuclear energy. House Minority Policy Leader Gene Ward introduced last session to start planning for clean, abundant nuclear fusion.

Developments on small modular reactors could provide important benefits to remote communities and be a significant tool for disaster response. Kauai was able to rely on key federal and military partnerships that our state could more broadly leverage for preparing to incorporate nuclear energy.

Improving interisland transportation should be a priority too. Right now we’re reliant on a handful of and the limits of air travel between the islands.

We should reconsider a robust interisland ferry network. Not only would this help everyday transport needs, but it would enable more flexibility in coordinating evacuations and allowing the state and counties to shift resources in responding to crisis events.

A more radical idea would be investigating the idea of trans-oceanic ferries from Hawaii to the mainland. Such a link would enable the quicker deployment of federal resources at scale during a crisis that air transport simply can’t match.

Hawaii has made some progress securing our information technology and communications infrastructure from malign actors, but further progress is needed. The state government should partner with and leverage federal Department of Defense resources to capabilities of our National Guard units. In 2017 New York City established a local to coordinate protection of official city and private computer systems.

Hawaii should make a similar move, strengthen, and consolidate state authorities to handle cyber incidents and establish robust information sharing between the counties, state, and federal governments. After more than 20 years of waiting our representatives and senators in Congress should push for the Department of Homeland Security to finally establish the . NET Guard would be a potentially crucial force in getting critical communication systems back up after a disaster.

Reform Government, Reinforce National Guard

Especially since the pandemic broke out in March 2020, the Hawaii National Guard and our state/county officials have been stretched to the limit, and then some.

Staffing shortages at key first responder agencies on the county level is just as bad (i.e., ) which will only aggravate present and future crises. The guard to the Covid-19 pandemic but also provided support in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol Attack.

To bolster our stretched National Guard we should consider creating . There are 20 active state defense forces right now, bolstering the disaster response abilities of state and local governments. Texas for instance leaned heavily on its’ state guard in responding to . These volunteer, unarmed forces can keep a ready body of citizens trained and ready to augment our first responders until more state and federal assistance arrives.

It shouldn’t take six months to bring in new hires. State and county officials should focus on streamlining the hiring process and modernizing the overall personnel systems to fill critical manning gaps. Many of our veterans are keen on continuing a career of public service, maybe the state and counties can participate in a DOD program called that is essentially a paid internship to help separating or retiring servicemen and women learn new skills and adjust to a new career.

When the Hawaii Legislature convenes in January for the start of its session not only should the focus be on relief and recovery for those impacted, but reform and resiliency. Any more delays and sluggishness will only worsen the next crisis, whether natural or manmade.