The american samoa department of homeland security (asdhs) serves as the emergency management lead agency for the territory of american samoa

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded $309,968 to the American Samoa Department of Homeland Security through the Meteorologic and Hydrologic Modernization Development program (CFDA 11.467) for the period of September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026. This award supports the continuation and sustainment of American Samoa's tsunami preparedness and mitigation activities in alignment with the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) Strategic Plan for 2024-2029. The funding enables the Territorial Emergency Management Coordination Office to maintain critical emergency management infrastructure and programs that enhance the territory's resilience against tsunami hazards.

The grant funds four primary objectives: continuation of mitigation education and outreach activities; preventative maintenance and repairs to the American Samoa siren warning system; continuation of evacuation display installations in schools located in tsunami-vulnerable areas; and continuation of evacuation mapping for individual villages. These activities build upon prior NTHMP-funded successes, including inundation modeling, evacuation route enhancement, and community education initiatives across coastal communities. Through this award, NOAA supports the operational sustainability of American Samoa's tsunami warning and preparedness infrastructure, strengthening the territory's capacity to protect vulnerable populations in low-lying and coastal areas.

Housed within the department, is the territorial emergency management coordination office (temco) responsible for coordinating disaster preparedness, and managing response and recovery operations. The united states national tsunami hazard mitigation program (nthmp) funding plays a fundamental role in maintaining and sustaining the american samoa tsunami program, while at the same time achieving goals of the nthmp strategic plan for 2024-2029. In previous funding opportunity and on-going awards, nthmp enables asdhs to maintain and further its educational outreach program, upkeep the american samoa siren system, and also funded the enhancement of inundation and modeling of evacuation routes for vulnerable villages in coastal areas as well as evacuation map displays for schools in low-lying areas. All of these projects have been successful through the nthmp. This proposal outlines major achievements, and sustainment of activities supported by the nthmp strategic plan, and includes the following objectives: objective 1: continuation of mitigation education and outreach activities objective 2: sirens preventative maintenance and repairs objective 3: continuation of evacuation displays for schools in tsunami vulnerable areas objective 4: continuation of evacuation mapping for individual villages