• Emergency Managers and Personnel
• Situation Reports
• National Incident Management System
• Grants & Assistance Programs
• Training
• Contacts
• Planning
• Best Practices

National Situation Update: Friday, May 11, 2007

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National Weather Forecast

South
Widely scattered thunderstorms are forecast over much of the South through the weekend. Areas that do get storms may see some locally heavy rain.

Scattered thunderstorms from Texas, across the Gulf Coast area to western Georgia, and from the Tennessee Valley to the southern Appalachians.

Subtropical storm Andrea has degenerated into a remnant.  The remnants of Andrea are expected to remain just offshore from the northeastern Florida coast on Friday.

Andrea created gusty winds but very little rainfall, hampering the efforts of those fighting the fires across southern Georgia and Florida.

Northeast
A cold front pushes into northern New England Friday afternoon, southward to the Mason-Dixon Line by Saturday. Look for showers and thunderstorms across Upstate New York and northern New England as a result.

Midwest
The weather will be calming down across the Midwest for awhile.

A front stretching from the northern Plains to the Great Lakes will create contrasting temperatures; south of the front, highs will push into the 80s from the Central Plains into the Ohio Valley. North of the front, 60s can be expected from North Dakota to Upper Michigan.

Cooler sixties can also be expected along the west shore of Lake Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Great Lakes and Ohio Valley will feel cooler temperatures this weekend. Highs will struggle into the low 60s in Cleveland, with a chilly wind off Lake Erie. Other areas will be hot.

West
The interior Northwest and Rockies will see isolated afternoon thunderstorms through the weekend. These storms will produce little rainfall, and given long-term drought in the Northern Rockies and Great Basin, there is a concern for wildfire starts.
It will be hot from the Great Basin into the Rockies and High Plains, approaching 90 in Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho.

Across coastal areas of southern California a marine layer will create low clouds and fog Friday morning in the Bay Area and L.A. Basin. These low clouds should eventually thin to hazy afternoon sunshine with the exception of a few stubborn beaches, but the cloud cover will hold temperatures in the 60s from the Washington Coast to the beaches of Santa Barbara and Southern California. (NWS, Media Sources)

Response to Kansas Tornadoes

Debris removal is continuing with Kansas National Guard and KDOT.  As of 3:00 pm Thursday, 483 loads of debris were hauled.

Public Health has given a total of 2,000 tetanus shots today, and is continuing to monitor public health conditions. 

Work has begun on a temporary electrical plan. Water meters are 75% shut off.  They are working on getting Well #9 running from generator power.

State, FEMA, and local officials are working temporary housing and temporary office plans.  (Region VII)

Impacts and Actions - Flooding in the Plains States

Major flooding was ongoing and/or forecast on the Grand River in Missouri, the James River in South Dakota, the Missouri River in Missouri and Kansas and the Platte River in Missouri.  Moderate flooding was ongoing and/or forecast for 14 other rivers in parts of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota.

South Dakota
Flood waters have been pumped out of the city of Aberdeen (Brown County).   Numerous homes in Aberdeen have been or will be condemned due to collapsing walls and other safety concerns. 

The Region VIII State Support Team is working with the state on planning tornado and flooding damage assessments.  The State has requested a Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) for twelve counties under the Individual Assistance Program criteria. Surveys are to begin on May 11.  

Iowa
Flooding and flash flooding continues to impact communities along the  Missouri, Nishnabotna and Boyer rivers, as well as tributaries and streams in western Iowa.

Due to improving weather conditions staffing of the State Emergency Operations Center is reduced to essential personnel.  Duty Officer is On-Call after normal duty hours.

Missouri
About 70 homes in Mosby (Clay County) were evacuated. Between 15 and 30 homes were evacuated in Levasy (Jackson County). Ten homes were evacuated in the Grand Pass area of Saline County. At Big Lake (Holt County), 500 houses were affected by flooding and 200 people have evacuated.  About 25 homes have been evacuated in Brunswick (Chariton County).  One levee broke and 15 to 25 families were evacuated near Orrick (Ray County). 

Parkville (Platte County) has about $250,000 damage to parks and recreation areas.  Over 40 businesses were evacuated in Parkville. Water has overtopped five levees in Platte County and covered parts of 29 county roads or state highways. Six businesses and nine homes have been evacuated in Riverside and Tracy (also Platte County).  From 15 to 30 homes were damaged in Tracy.

Due to several levee breaks, crests downstream on the Missouri River are expected to be less than previously expected.

There has now been one fatality in Missouri associated with the flood situation.
Army Corps of Engineers: The Kansas City District Office reports no overtopping or breaching of federal levees. As far as non-federal Levees, eight have overtopped and three have failed. Some 768,000 sandbags are in stock. In the last 24 hours 132,000 sandbags were issued to threatened communities and will be in place by this evening, and pre-positioning 300,000 sandbags in Jefferson City Office for distribution to downriver communities.   

Kansas 
The Governor's State Declaration was amended on May 10, 2007 to include 32 counties.

The potential for the Governor's request for Federal assistance is unknown at this time. The State continues to collect damage information from the affected counties.  State is waiting to receive information from the affected counties. 

Illinois
The Illinois EOC is not activated. Illinois has deployed State liaisons to Gale, IL and Thebes, IL to review Mississippi River conditions and flood planning at these locations. These are small communities of approximately 500 people. There are no requests for State or Federal assistance.  (NOAA, NWS, Region V, Region VI, Region VII, Region VIII)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean: As of 11:00 p.m. ET, Andrea is expected to remain just offshore from the northeastern Florida coast tonight and tomorrow. High waves (6-8 feet) are expected along the coast from NC to FL. Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours. This is the last advisory issued by the national hurricane center on this system.

Eastern Pacific: No significant activity to report.

Western Pacific: No significant activity to report. (NOAA, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

A series of earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.7 to 5.5 were reported in the last 24 hours in the Northern Mariana Region, about 240 miles north of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Depths are 30-80 miles. No reports of damage. (NOAA, USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

South Dakota:  Individual assistance PDAs for 12 counties are scheduled to start on May 11, 2007.
Iowa: Iowa 4 IA teams and 5 PA teams to commence next May 14, 2007.
Missouri:  Waiting till waters recede to commence PDAs; anticipate end of next week for start.  (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

National Preparedness Level 2  (On a scale from 1 to 5)
Initial attack activity was heavy with 402 new fires reported burning 1,660 acres.  Currently, there are 20 fires over 500 acres and 2 Wildland Fire Use (WFU) incidents. Two Type 2 and two Type 1 Incident Management Teams are assigned. The Southern Area is at Preparedness Level 4.

The State of Florida reports that wildfires are actively burning in 56 of the 67 Florida counties affecting approximately 80,000 acres statewide (based on news reports).  Some 240 homes have been evacuated, 912 homes affected/damaged/or on stand-by, and 4 homes destroyed.  A total of 5 shelters are open with a population of 33.  Two additional shelters are on standby. The FL EOC has elevated activities with a full contingent of staff for the night. 

Florida Green IMT team has deployed to Columbia County. There are 5 strike teams moving to the site to fight the fire, Mandatory Region IV notified the NRCC that FL has requested an ERT-A (a scaled down version to include an ERT-A Team Leader, an Operations and a Planning person) to report to the FL State EOC as soon as possible for wildfire support.

Griffith Park Fire: Griffith Park, Los Angeles County, California. With help from the cooler temperatures and higher humidity, firefighters plan to have the brush fire fully contained by day's end. The fire is 75% contained. Just two helicopters remain on the scene and the command staff at the Greek Theatre has been sending firefighters home.

The Ham Lake Fire in the northeastern portion of Minnesota has caused evacuations and property damages. The fire is 5% contained. The fire has now consumed approximately 22,000 acres (as of 15:30, May 9th) and stretches into Canada. Unified Command has added a Canadian representative. North and westerly winds pushed the fire north and east into Canada. 41 buildings are reported as destroyed. Preliminary structural assessments are under way.
Approximately 156,594 acres are actively burning in Georgia.

The Boise-based NIMO Team is now assigned to Greensburg, KS.  They are charged with setting up and running a base camp for emergency workers after the devastating tornadoes that leveled the small town and damaged some surrounding communities on May 4 & 5.  (NIFC)

Disaster Declaration Activity

The Governor of Kentucky is requesting a major disaster declaration as a result of severe storms, flooding, mudslides, and rockslides beginning on April 14, 2007, and continuing. The Governor is specifically requesting Public Assistance for nine counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide.

FEMA-1696-DR-WV, Amendment #1:  11 counties added for Public Assistance.

FEMA-1695-DR-NH, Amendment #2:  Belknap County added for Individual Assistance (already designated for Public Assistance). Coos County added for Public Assistance. (FEMA HQ)