Homeland Security Advisor Esther Aguigui told senators during an oversight hearing Monday that the agency is short of staff, and while the Emergency Operations Center is functional, the systems inside are antiquated.
After hearing that more workers are needed, three of the five vehicles are not operational and equipment is outdated, Speaker Frank Blas Jr. asked about the agency’s ability to handle a major typhoon today.
“If we were to have another event, such as Mawar, again, are we ready to be able to handle it?” Blas asked.
“No,” Aguigui said.
Sen. Shawn Gumataotao, who chairs the legislative Committee on Public Safety, Emergency Management, and Guam National Guard, held the hearing in part to address a 2024 audit that found Guam had not received $8.4 million in reimbursements because the agency didn’t follow federal government rules.
Aguigui said the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved Homeland Security’s corrective action plan on Jan. 21.
“This plan addresses 12 audit findings with more than 50 individual corrective actions spanning every operational dimension of our organization,” Aguigui said. “The approval demonstrates federal confidence in our commitment to improvement, confidence we are determined to honor.”
But there are still problems at the agency.
When Blas asked about the condition of the Emergency Operations Center, Aguigui referred to the military’s color codes for states of readiness.
“The color codes range from green to red to amber, indicating certain stages of readiness, for obvious reasons. You know, red is you need to pay more attention to this,” Aguigui said. “Amber would be, you might, you know, you’ll get by with this. And green is, you are fully operational. If I were to assess the condition of the Office of Homeland Security and Civil Defense right now, Speaker, I would say we are in an amber state.”
Following the hearing, Gumataotao issued a statement saying “leadership must be courageous enough to challenge the status quo.”
“Time, energy, and precious resources have been focused unnecessarily on Band-Aid fixes to an operation that requires systemic changes now and into the future,” he said.
