National Situation Update: Thursday, July 27, 2006
Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).
National Weather Forecast
South: Precipitation may be light through much of the Deep South and West Texas tomorrow, but the upper-level disturbance that's contributing to the on-going downpours in southeastern Texas and Louisiana will produce storms in and around the ArkLaTex.
West: Most of the West will remain hot and dry tomorrow with scattered showers and thunderstorms confined to parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. High temperatures will range from the 60s along Pacific beaches north of Point Conception to over 100 in the interior valleys of California, parts of the Great Basin and Columbia Basin, the Colorado River Valley along the Utah-Colorado border, and the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Death Valley will top 110.
Midwest: Scattered showers and thunderstorms will occur in the lower Midwest tomorrow with an outside chance of a storm in the Great Plains and Upper Midwest. High temperatures in the 80s for most of the Midwest and 90s for the Plains will dominate. Readings are likely to top 100 in central South Dakota.
Northeast: Scattered showers and thunderstorms will strike the Northeast tomorrow, mostly over interior locations, while temperatures rise to levels appropriate for late July. (NWS, Media Sources)
FEMA Regional Activity
Natural gas leak & power line down on Interstate 44: July 26, 2006
Jasper County, Missouri (City of Joplin) has declared an emergency because of the two following events. The events occurred simultaneously, but it is not yet verified that they are related.
A power line fell across Interstate Highway 44, east of Range Line Road.
There is a gas leak along Interstate Highway 44, east of Range Line Road.
As a precaution, residents of the Holiday Inn and the Residence Inn (within the immediate area) have been evacuated to the John Q. Hammons Center. The American Red Cross has been contacted to set up a canteen for responders and to do a welfare check on the hotel evacuees.
The events were related. A crew installing a fiber optic line in the median between I-44 drilled into a gas line, pulled their equipment back and snagged the overhead power lines. There were no injuries or explosions. The hotels were evacuated as a precaution, and were operational again early Tuesday evening July 25, 2006.
Electrical power was restored Tuesday evening, as was natural gas supply north of I-44.
The Duty Officer at the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency is coordinating with the SEMA area manager and local officials regarding this event. The Joplin Health Department is doing a physical check on all restaurants in the affected area.
I-44 will be closed at 1735 CDT for approximately 30 minutes to allow the electric utility (Empire District Electric) restore the power lines. The gas utility (SouthStar) is lowering the gas pressure to facilitate response to the gas leak. Additional resources have not been requested at this time.
FEMA Region VII is in contact with SEMA for incident updates and briefings. (FEMA Region VII)
Illinois Severe Storms: July 26, 2006
State Declarations of Emergency are in effect in the Counties of Madison, St. Clair, Clinton and Jefferson as a result of Severe Storms and resulting power outages occurring over the course of July 19-21, 2006. IEMA reports that the volume at IDHS facilities providing assistance to folks impacted by the recent storms and resulting power outage is still above normal, but there are no outside lines. A routine application for State assistance is now taken in approximately 15 minutes. Midday volume totaled 1,660 applicants, with the vast majority for food replacement. Approx. 36,132 customers are without power.
Clean-up operations continue in the affected areas with pretty much the same State responders along with IMAT under the Unified Command Structure, plus the addition of the Illinois Attorney General Office. The town of Lebanon has been added to the clean up/power outage list which includes East St Louis, Cahokia, Granite City, Mt. Vernon and Woodlawn.
Illinois EPA continues to monitor activities at affected Water Distribution and/ Waste Water Treatment facilities.
IDOT has provided a warehouse in Fairview Heights for distribution of MRE's.
Attorney General's Office sent investigators to visit areas affected by storm damage to assess price gouging.
Red Cross continues fixed and mobile feeding in the affected areas. Currently, there are very few folks in the shelters, although the state reports that there are folks staying with friends/relatives and some being looked after by local churches. The State says they can't put a number on the amount of folks in these categories.
There is currently no request for Federal assistance. FEMA Region V is monitoring the situation. (FEMA Region V)
St. Louis Area Restoration from Storms of July 19 and 21, 2006
Restoration efforts to the electrical infrastructure continue in the St. Louis bi-state metropolitan area damaged from severe thunderstorms on July 19 and July 21, 2006. Ameren Corporation, the primary provider of electricity in the St. Louis area, is being supported by utility repair crews from 11 other states.
Electricity: As of 26 July 2006 at 11:30 am EDT, a total of 96,353 remain without power. The Illinois outages are: 21,593; Missouri are: 74,760; and the St Louis metro area outages are: 79,532. Ameren has approximately 4,000 contractors and staff working on restoration efforts and the majority of customers are expected to have power by Wednesday, 26 July. (NICC)
WY Wildfires
LITTLE VENUS: This 27,502 acre lightning-caused fire started on June 19, 2006 and is burning in bug-killed spruce and heavy down fuels, 30 miles west of Meeteetse, WY. A Type 2 IMT is assigned. A historic cabin continues to be potentially threatened. No structures have been destroyed. Burnout operations are ongoing. Active fire behavior with group torching was observed. The fire is 30 percent contained. There is no estimated date for full containment.
There are no requests for federal assistance at this time. (FEMA Region VIII)
UT Wildfires
REILLY: This 1,800 acre lightning-caused fire started on July 24, 2006 and is burning in grass, brush, pinyon pine and juniper, ten miles northwest of Ivins, UT. Two primary structures and two outbuildings are potentially threatened. No structures have been destroyed. Running and torching fire behavior was observed. The fire is zero percent contained. There is no estimated date for full containment.
SUNSET CANYON: This 1,100 acre lightning-caused fire started on July 23, 2006, and is burning in timber, pinyon pine, oak brush, and mountain mahogany, 55 miles north-northwest of Richfield, UT. A Type 2 IMT is assigned. There are twelve primary structures and communication towers potentially threatened. No structures have been destroyed. Steep terrain, heavy fuel loading and inaccessibility are hindering containment efforts. Moderate fire behavior with isolated single and group torching were observed. The fire is 30 percent contained with an estimated date for full containment of July 29, 2006.
There is no request for federal assistance at this time. (FEMA Region VIII)
MT Wildfires
GASH CREEK: This 200 acre fire of unknown cause started on July 24, 2006, is burning in timber, six miles south of Victor, MT. A Type 2 IMT is assigned. Twelve primary structures are potentially threatened. No structures have been destroyed. Extreme fire behavior consisting of torching, running and wind-driven spotting was reported. The fire is 20 percent contained. There is no estimated date for full containment
PACKER GULCH: This 3,059 acre human-caused fire started on July 16, 2006, and is burning in timber, 11 miles northwest of Drummond, MT. A Type 2 IMT is assigned. There are 11 primary structures, and 11 outbuildings potentially threatened. One primary structure and two outbuildings have been destroyed. Rugged terrain is hampering containment efforts. Fire activity was limited to interior smoking and burning of green islands within the perimeter. The fire is 85 percent contained with an estimated date for full containment of July 28, 2006.
There are no requests for federal assistance at this time. (FEMA Region VIII)
Tropical Depression Daniel Response Update
The Hawaii State EOC will revert to normal operations status by 12:00 am EDT, July 27, 2006. No more daily conference calls are anticipated.
Elements of the Region IX ERT-A which deployed to Hawaii, will remain at the Pacific Area Office until the 'all clear' is issued by the state. The FEMA Region IX RRCC will stand down and regional operations will revert to a regular duty officer watch during normal work hours. (FEMA Region IX)
Update on the Cougar Ace
The Cougar Ace remains adrift, listing to 60 degrees as measured by the U.S. Coast Guard, about 244 nautical miles southwest of Adak Alaska. Coast Guard assets will remain on the scene until a commercial tug arrives to begin the tow.
The vessel owners contracted the tug and expect it will possibly arrive July 31 (next Monday). The Coast Guard is working to identify harbors of safe refuge for the vessel. According to the Coast Guard, the fuel sheen seen trailing the vessel (about 4000 yards long and 70 yards wide) appeared to be light oil not bunkers oil.
A press report stated that the Coast Guard planned no investigation of the incident because the vessel was in international waters and criminal activity was not suspected.
The 23 crew members who were rescued Monday had been initially airlifted to Adak, but were later flown to Anchorage Alaska.
The NWS Ocean Prediction Center in Camp Springs Maryland continues to provide tailored 48-hour spot forecasts, with a trend to day five, for the immediate vicinity of the event every six hours.
The latest forecast contains a Gale Warning for Thursday. Conditions as of 8:00 am EDT Wednesday were southeast winds 10 to 15 knots with seas of 5 to 7 feet within 120 nautical miles of the site (48.1 degrees north 174.3 degrees west). Winds are forecast to veer to the south or southwest by Thursday and increase to 30 to 35 knots, with seas building to 12 to 15 feet. For Friday, winds are forecast to diminish to 15 to 20 knots with seas subsiding a bit to 10 to 12 feet. The trend to next Monday (July 31) is for winds to diminish and seas to subside as high pressure builds east toward the area. (NOAA)
Tropical Activity
Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea: For the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, a tropical wave is producing cloudiness, showers, and a few thunderstorms over much of the Lesser Antilles and adjacent waters of the Western Atlantic and Eastern Caribbean Sea. Upper-level winds are expected to remain unfavorable for any significant development of this system as it moves westward at 20 to 25 mph.
Elsewhere, tropical storm formation is not expected through Friday, july 28, 2006.
Eastern Pacific: At 11:00 pm EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Emilia was located near latitude 25.8 north, longitude 115.8 west or about 230 miles west-northwest of Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico and about 145 miles south-southwest of Punta Eugenia, Mexico.
Emilia is moving toward the west-northwest near 13 mph and this general motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph .with higher gusts. Continued weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours. On its current path, Emilia does not pose a threat to the U.S. or U.S. interests.
Western Pacific: There is no activity in this region. (USDOC/NOAA/NWS, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)
Earthquake Activity
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Preliminary Damage Assessments
Individual Assistance PDAs for five counties in Illinois are scheduled to begin on Friday, July 28, 2006.. (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update
National Preparedness Level 4 (On a scale from 1 to 5)
Large wildland fires are classified as 100 acres or larger in timber fuel types, 300 acres or larger in grass fuel types or when a type 1 or 2 Incident Management Team is assigned.
Initial attack activity was heavy nationally with 441 new fires reported. Twenty-one new large fires were reported, five in the Western Great Basin, four in the Eastern Great Basin and Southern Areas, three each in the Southern California and the Northern California Areas, two fires in the Northwest and one in the Northern Rockies Area. Fifteen large fires were contained, five in the Southern California Area, three each in the Western Great Basin, and Southern Area, and one each in the Northern California, Northwest, Southwest and the Northern Rockies Areas. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Oregon, California, Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
There is a Red Flag warning for southeastern Montana due to gusty winds and low humidity.
Hot weather will continue over most of the West as strong high pressure persists over the region. Scattered thunderstorms will also continue over much of the area. (National Interagency Fire Center)
Disaster Declaration Activity
FEMA-1655-DR-VA is amended to add Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, and Henry Counties for Public Assistance.
FEMA-1652-DR-MD is amended to add Montgomery County for Public Assistance.
FEMA-1649-DR-PA is amended to include Pike County for Public Assistance.
FEMA-3267-EM-MO is amended to close the Incident Period effective July 21, 2006. (FEMA HQ)
Last Modified: Thursday, 27-Jul-2006 08:09:26 EDT