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National Situation Update: Thursday, July 10, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

West:
The region will be dry and hot, only New Mexico and Arizona are expect to get any precipitation in the form of showers and thunderstorms.   Red flag warning are in effect for most of California through Friday evening due to a combination of gusty winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures creating critical fire weather conditions see www.nws.noaa.gov/ for the latest information.  Much of the region will have above average temperatures and near record highs are forecast for many locations. The interior of California, the Sonoran and Mojave deserts will all have temperatures over 100F.  Excessive heat warnings are in effect until tonight for central and southern San Joaquin valley, the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains below 3000 feet
Midwest:
A frontal system will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms across the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes. High temperatures will range from near 70 on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the mid-90s on the western High Plains.
South:
The tail end of a cold front will produce a broad swath of showers and thunderstorms across the region from Oklahoma to eastern North Carolina, only Texas will remain dry.   High temperatures are forecast to range from near 80 in the southern Appalachians to the upper 90s in Texas.
Northeast:
Under a ridge of high pressure dry and generally clear weather is forecast for most of the region with a few showers or thunderstorms over southern Virginia.   High temperatures will range from the 70s in New England to the 80s in Virginia.(National Weather Service, Various Media Sources).

California Wildfires

Summary:
California has a total of 1,781 fires, 1,458 are contained (81%); 323 total active fires. There are currently 24 fire complexes that are actively threatening life and property.  There are a total of 688,423 acres burned (519,121 acres for the 10 reported fires) and 19,474 personnel assigned.

California Wildfires
Fatalities - 1; Injuries - 127
ARC Reports 7 shelters with 339 occupants (as of 5:00 p.m. EDT July 9, 2008)
Structures destroyed: 95 residences; 1 commercial; 78 outbuildings for the 10 reported fires
Structures threatened: 12,823 residences; 165 commercial; 2,754outbuildings for the 10 reported fires
State EOC is activated 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. PDT; limited night shift
There are no CIKR assets of national concern reported to be threatened or impacted.
The DOT-CMC reports closures and delays are in place for State Highways 1 (Big Sur Area), 32 and 70.
Protective Security Advisors (PSAs) continue to coordinate with state and local contacts for impact information.
FEMA NRCC is monitoring the situation and coordinating with Region IX.
FEMA Region IX RRCC is activated to Modified Level III from 7:00 a .m. - 5:00 p.m. PDT
FEMA LNOs deployed to State EOC, NorthOps Center and SouthOps Center
Other Federal Actions
Department of Defense (DOD)
U.S. Marine Corps is providing 6 CH-47 helicopters.
U.S. Navy is providing 2 CH-53 helicopters.
The NGB and AFRC are providing 8 MAFFS Systems and 8 MAFFS C130 Aircraft
National Guard has 1,072 Guardsmen supporting the fires from AZ, CO, NV, NC, WA, OR, NM, ID, NE, UT and WY. (Numbers do not include the MAFFS personnel for Guard and Reserves from WY, NC, and CO)

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean:
Hurricane Bertha
Bertha is moving a little slower to the northwest.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT, the center of Bertha was located about 545 miles southeast of Bermuda.
Hurricane Bertha is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph.  A gradual turn toward the north with a decrease in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days.
Maximum sustained winds are near 105 mph, with higher gusts. Bertha is a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some strengthening is expected during the next 48 hours.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles.    
Federal Actions
FEMA NRCC is monitoring forecast models and maintaining contact with FEMA Region II, III, and IV RRCCs, NWS and NHC for situational awareness.
The RRCCs in FEMA Regions II, III and IV are activated at Level III and monitoring.
A Region II Partial ERT-A Team remains on St. Thomas.
The Caribbean Area Office also continues to monitor the storm. (Regions II, III, IV, NWS)
Eastern Pacific:
Showers and thunderstorms are limited in association with an area of disturbed weather that extends from just west of the gulf of Tehuantepec west-southwestward for a couple hundred miles. Development of this system is expected to be slow to occur as it moves slowly westward.
A second area of disturbed weather located several hundred miles south of El Salvador and Guatemala also remains disorganized.  Development of this system is also expected to be slow to occur.
Elsewhere, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.
Western Pacific:
No tropical cyclone activity. (NOAA, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

On Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 9:41 p.m. EDT an earthquake measuring 4.8 magnitude struck 91 miles north northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at a depth of 3.5 miles. There was no tsunami generated.   (USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Wednesday July 9, 2008:
National Wildfire Preparedness Level: 5
Initial attack activity: Light (161 new fires)
New large fires: 1
Uncontained large fires: 68
Large fires contained: 3 (National Interagency Fire Center, National Incident Information Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

On July 9, 2008 the President Declared a Major Disaster Declaration (FEMA-1774-DR) South Dakota (Severe Storms and Flooding June 2-12, 2008) for the following:

• Public Assistance - 27 counties, 3 Tribal Reservations
• Hazard mitigation - Statewide and Tribal Reservations
• FCO is Tony Russel (National FCO Program)

On July 09, 2008 the President Declared a Major Disaster Declaration (FEMA-1775-DR) Oklahoma (Severe Storms and Flooding June 3-20, 2008) for the following:

• Public Assistance - 24 counties
• Hazard mitigation - Statewide
• FCO is Justin A. Dombrowski (National FCO Program)

On July 09, 2008 the President Declared a Major Disaster Declaration (FEMA-1776-DR) Kansas (Severe Storms and Flooding May 22 to June 16, 2008) for the following:

• Public Assistance - 46 Counties
• Hazard Mitigation - Statewide
• FCO is Thomas A. Hall (National FCO Program).

FEMA-1768-DR-Wisconson; Amendment #11 amends the notice of a major disaster declaration to include one county (Monroe County) for Individual Assistance (already designated for Public Assistance.

FEMA-3287-EM-California; Amendment #2 amends the notice of a major disaster declaration to include eleven counties (Butte, Kern, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Plumas, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, and Trinity counties) for emergency protective measures direct (Category B) Federal assistance under the Public Assistance program for a period beginning on June 20, 2008 and ending on August 20, 2008, or the close of the incident period, whichever occurs first.

JFO for FEMA-1742-DR-MO closed on July 9, 2008.
JFO for FEMA-3286-EM-OH will close on July 11, 2008.
JFO for FEMA-1740-DR-IN will close on July 17, 2008(FEMA HQ)