Federated States of Micronesia Disaster Management Reference Handbook

This Disaster Management Reference Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of FSM’s disaster risk environment, institutional structures, and operational practices. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the country’s state-led response structure, national coordination mechanisms, and reliance on external support, all of which shape how disaster operations are conducted in practice. The country faces a complex hazard landscape dominated by tropical cyclones, drought, coastal flooding, and storm surge. The risk these hazards pose is compounded by the country’s geographic dispersion, limited infrastructure, and constrained logistics capacity. Disaster impacts are often uneven; they affect outer islands differently than more densely populated main islands. Hazard events of even moderate scale can result in significant disruption to livelihoods, infrastructure, and essential services, particularly in remote communities.

Disaster management in FSM is locally executed and nationally coordinated. The governments of the four states of FSM – from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae – are the primary responders and retain authority over disaster operations within their jurisdictions. The national government, through the Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Emergency Management (DECEM), provides coordination, information management, and access to international assistance. External actors must work through these established coordination channels. There is no short-term solution to the geographic or societal challenges FSM confronts. However, as an active regional player with strong bilateral and multilateral ties, the country continues to build its coping capacity and, in turn, share its experiences with DM with others.