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National Situation Update: Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Snow and Wind in the West

West:
Rain and snow continues to spread across the West and most of the nation west of the Continental Divide will get rain or snow on Wednesday. The heaviest snow should fall across central portions of Idaho and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains south of Lake Tahoe in California.

Along the coast, a gale warning runs the entire coast from Cape Flattery, Washington, to the Mexican border, except between Crescent City and Point Arena, California, where a storm warning is in effect for Wednesday.

Northeast:
Scattered light snow showers and flurries will remain in parts of the Adirondacks and other Northeast mountain ranges after dropping about six inches of new snow yesterday.

Behind this storm system, colder air will move into areas of Pennsylvania and northward.

Midwest:
A few snow showers across the western Great Lakes on Wednesday, but the vast majority of the region will stay dry.

South:
Sunny skies will dominate the South on Wednesday.
 
In the Florida Panhandle, a red flag warning is in effect for the increased fire danger due to lower humidity values. (NWS, Media Sources)

Death of President Gerald Ford

At 10:40 p.m. EST December 26, the 38th US President, Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. passed away in California. 
The National Guard Bureau Joint Task Force National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) has been appointed the lead planning agency for the funeral.

Florida Christmas Tornadoes Update

FEMA Region IV reports, as of December 26, 2006, 5:30 pm EST: 
It has been confirmed that an F2 tornado touched down in Pasco County near the area known as San Antonio (I75 and SR 52). The NWS also confirmed the touchdown of two F2 tornadoes in Volusia County. 

County Emergency Management (EM) confirms major damage to several mobile home parks.  A large apartment complex, also suffered major damage with three buildings being totally destroyed and eight buildings significantly damaged. Structural integrity of the buildings is still in progress.

Damages in the City of Daytona Beach include as many as 20 police vehicles, 19 primary residences, and 4 commercial structures.  Damage assessments are ongoing at this time. 

The Lake County Situation Report indicates approximately 40 dwellings and 15 businesses sustained minor damage.  Lake County EM is working with the City of Leesburg to obtain loss estimates.  EM personnel are working to complete preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) by close of business December 26, 2006.  Assessments and estimates are expected to trickle in as business owners and residents return from holiday travel.

The American Red Cross is on scene providing family services, health services, and mental health services.  Shelters have been opened for displaced residents in Volusia County.  (Additional shelterees are anticipated as local residents return from holiday travels.)

The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for the City of Daytona Beach remains at partial activation.  The State EOC is activated at a Level 3, monitoring the situation. A letter from the State requesting joint FEMA-State preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) is in process.  Region IV should receive the request Wednesday.

FEMA Region IV and the Long Term Recovery Office (LTRO) are coordinating the federal response. On receipt of the State's request, the Florida LTRO will deploy IA and PA PDA teams (2 teams) to Volusia and Pasco Counties (1 team) as early as Wednesday, December 27, 2006 to conduct joint assessments.  It is anticipated that PDAs will be concluded in both counties by end of day. 

FEMA Region IV Senior Management has been in contact with the State of Florida and the Florida Long Term Recovery Office (FLTRO) concerning response and recovery efforts for this event. 

The FEMA Regional Duty Officer will remain in contact with the State and will provide additional reports as necessary.

No State assistance has been requested at this time.  The counties have handled all response efforts for this event.  (FEMA Region IV, Florida State EOC Operations Officer and Florida Situation Report)

More Snow Expected for Denver

Computer models used by the National Weather Service are forecasting another snowstorm bringing anything from 3 inches to 2 feet of snow to Front Range locations Thursday and Friday.

The Weather Service issued a winter storm watch Tuesday for most of Colorado and warned metro Denver governments that there is a 100 percent chance of snow and blustery winds developing sometime around noon Thursday. Two of the five computer programs used by the Weather Service show the possibility that it will be a large snowstorm producing as much as or more than last week's blizzard if atmospheric conditions continue to line up properly, however, according to NWS forecasters, a small change in the storm track could lessen the amount of snow in Denver.
 
Efforts continue at clearing snow from residential streets in Denver. Some cities near Denver, such as Fort Collins, already have made plow passes through residential streets and are likely to be in better shape than Denver or other places where thick ice coats neighborhoods.

A warm-water El Niño has formed in the Pacific, and forecasters insist Colorado can expect a break from the snow soon.

Volcanoes Activity:

Mount St. Helens remains the only volcano  in the U.S. states or territories that is in "Watch" condition, or aviation color code"Orange".  Other volcanoes are in "Yellow"(Advisory) or "Green"(Normal) condition. Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater continues. Changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months.  (USGS)  

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

A series of  5.6 to 7.2 earthquakes occurred off the Southern Coast of Taiwan Wednesday.  Both the West Coast/Alaska and Pacific Tsunami Warning Centers evaluated that no Tsunami threat existed for the West Coast of the United States or Hawaii.  (USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers, media sources)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:21:52 EDT