⚠️IMSPARK: Cutting Readiness to Save Pennies⚠️

⚠️Imagine... Cutting Readiness to Save Pennies⚠️

💡 Imagined Endstate:

A Hawaiʻi where emergency preparedness isn’t sacrificed in the name of austerity, but fortified as an essential public investment—protecting lives, communities, and the most vulnerable when disaster strikes.

📚 Source:

Tagami, M. (2025, May 10). Cuts To State Emergency Management Could Leave Hawai‘i Less Prepared. Honolulu Civil Beat. Link.

💥 What’s the Big Deal:

It defies logic to dismantle critical emergency management infrastructure in an era marked by escalating wildfires, hurricanes, and systemic risk🌀. There’s no measurable "return on investment" in emergency planning until it's too late—until lives are lost, homes destroyed, and vulnerable residents left without aid. Yet, the punishment for neglect is swift: inadequate response, slower recovery, and a breakdown of public trust.

This isn’t just a line item—it’s a lifeline🌉. The proposed $13 million cut to Hawaiʻi’s emergency management budget sends the wrong message at the worst possible time. Emergency services are not luxury expenditures; they are the moral and logistical backbone of resilience in our islands, especially for those already living on the margins—elderly residents, those with disabilities, rural communities, and Native Hawaiian families in high-risk zones.

To degrade this system is to gamble with human life. And in the Pacific, where every storm is personal and every siren sacred, readiness is not optional—it’s our kuleana🚨.

#PacificPreparedness, #DisasterResilience, #EmergencyEquity, #HawaiiStrong, #PublicSafetyFirst, #NoCutsToReadiness, #ClimateJustice,#IMSPARK,