LocationsBefore Disaster Strikes: Why Early Warnings Must Reach Every Community
August 20, 2026
When a cyclone forms offshore or floodwaters begin to rise the effectiveness of an early warning system depends on more than a forecast. It depends on whether communities receive the right information and the right time and are able to act on it.
Fiji has made significant progress in strengthening the systems and institutions that support early warnings. Government agencies, emergency responders, humanitarian organisations, telecommunication providers and community networks all play a key role in ensuring warnings move from detection to action.
But one critical question remains: Can warnings consistently reach the last mile, including remote maritime communities and vulnerable populations before disaster strikes?
The answer lies in understanding the entire warning chain.
Detection and Coordination
Every early warning begins with detecting a potential hazard and the rapid assessment of the risks it presents.
Fiji is strengthening this process through efforts to enhance its Multi-Hazard Early Warning System and introduce the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), which can enable warnings to be disseminated consistently across multiple platforms, including radio, television and mobile phones.
For the Fiji Police Force, coordination is critical to turning warning information into action. With officers stationed across the country and longstanding links with communities, schools and faith groups, the force also plays an important role in disseminating information, particularly in remote and maritime areas.
Assistant Superintendent of Police and Officer in Charge of Police Command Coordination Centre, Koroi Seduadua.
“Coordination is very important because it triggers timely decision-making. It is also about ensuring safe community actions and safeguarding our people,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police and Officer in Charge of Police Command Coordination Centre, Koroi Seduadua.
The recent Fiji Multi-Hazard Early Warnings System and Common Alerting Protocol workshop highlighted broad stakeholder consensus on the need for stronger governance arrangements, clearly defined institutional roles and improved coordination mechanisms to support warning generation, dissemination and response.
Response Mobilisation
Once a warning is issued, emergency services must mobilise quickly.
For Fiji’s National Fire Authority, timely information allows firefighters and emergency personnel to prepare resources, coordinate with response partners and position teams ahead of a disaster.
Station Officer for the National Fire Authority Command Centre, Rokowati Crocker.
“As first responders, the sooner we receive the warning, the faster we’ll respond and the more lives will be saved,” said Station Officer for the National Fire Authority Command Centre, Rokowati Crocker.
While tropical cyclones can often provide several days of lead time, other hazards such as earthquakes and tsunami threats may leave only a narrow window for action. In these situations, delays at any point in the warning chain can reduce the time available for communities to respond.
Workshop participants identified resilient communication systems, interoperability between agencies and stronger telecommunication infrastructure as priority investments to improve warning dissemination and emergency response capabilities.
Community-Level Delivery
The greatest test comes at the end of the chain and whether a warning reaches people in time and in a form they can understand and act upon.
Discussions reinforced the importance of maintaining redundancy through multiple communication channels, including mobile networks, social media, radio broadcasts and community-based communication systems, and ensuring that the communications must be inclusive and accessible to all and in multi-lingual format.
For the Fiji Red Cross Society, strong local networks are essential.
Disaster Management Resilience Coordinator at the Fiji Red Cross Society, Unaisi Baro.
“The information needs to cascade right down to the last person or the last mile. It is also important that we are not only focused on one type of hazard, but prepared for all,” said Disaster Management Resilience Coordinator at the Fiji Red Cross Society, Unaisi Baro.
The workshop also recognised the ongoing importance of traditional governance structures in supporting the last mile communication. Turaga-ni-Koro networks, provincial councils, and communication-based organisations continue to play a crucial role in sharing information and helping communities take proactive and protective action.
The Evidence Gap
The importance of strengthening every link in the warning chain is underscored by Fiji’s growing exposure to climate and disaster risks.
According to the Fiji National Anticipatory Action Framework for Tropical Cyclones 2025-2027, Fiji Government estimated that by 2050, over 6.5 per cent of Fiji’s gross domestic product could be lost due to tropical cyclones and floods, with the number of people being pushed into poverty every year increasing by 25 per cent.
Early warnings are therefore more than simply a technical investment but are also a critical tool for reducing disaster losses, protecting development gains and supporting anticipatory action before impacts occur.
Inclusion Remains as a Gap
Receiving a warning does not necessarily mean being able to understand or act on it.Participants highlighted that the need for warning system that are inclusive and accessible to all users, including persons with disabilities, women, older persons, children, non-English speakers, and communities in remote locations.
For many vulnerable groups, receiving a warning does not automatically mean being able to understand it, access it or action it. Addressing these barriers remains one of the most significant challenges in achieving effective last mile early warning coverage.
Closing the Gap
Fiji has built strong foundations for a more coordinated and effective warning system.
The challenge now is ensuring that these improvements translate into reliable last mile reach.
This is at the heart of Fiji’s work under the he global Early Warnings for All initiative, launched by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, with the goal of ensuring that every person is protected by life-saving multi-hazard early warning systems by 2027.
Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Hon. Mosese Bulitavu.
Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Hon. Mosese Bulitavu said:
“The Common Alerting Protocol offers Fiji an opportunity to modernise and strength our warning dissemination arrangements. By enabling alerts to be created once and distribute simultaneously across multiple communication channels, it can improve consistency, reliability, and speed in emergency communications. More importantly, it supports a coordinated national approach that ensures no community is left behind.”
Fiji's next challenge is therefore not simply generating warnings faster, but strengthening the infrastructure and systems that carry those warnings to the last mile. This means investing in resilient telecommunications, ensuring backup communication channels are available when primary networks fail, improving interoperability between agencies, and making alerts accessible to people regardless of location, language or disability.
Because in the face of disaster, time only saves lives when information reaches the people who need it most.