National Situation Update: Saturday, January 6, 2007

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National Weather Summary

South
There will be a break in the rain and severe weather across the Southeast, and temperatures will feel like spring. Fog may be a morning problem across parts of northern southeast Georgia, southeast Tennessee and the western Carolinas, however high temperatures will move quickly into the 70s across the Southeast this afternoon, with 80s over the Florida Peninsula.

A cold front will head from the southern Plains into Arkansas and eastern Texas with highs only in the 40s and 50s by early next week. Another storm system is developing in the western Gulf of Mexico, and rain will spread rapidly northward tonight and Sunday. A few severe thunderstorms could develop, especially in the Carolinas, on Sunday.

West
Look for one to three foot snows from the Cascades to the Bitterroots Saturday. Fierce winds will increase from Idaho into Montana and Wyoming.

Another storm is slated to hit by late Sunday into Monday with more wind and snow from Washington to the northern high Plains.

Southern California will have a dry offshore flow this weekend and the first part of the coming week. The Santa Ana winds will be the strongest on Sunday.

Northeast
Rain will quickly move through the Northeast overnight, and by this morning will feature only a few lingering showers across northern sections of New England. High temperature records may be set across the region. Temperatures will peak well into the 60s in southern New England and into the 70s across the Middle Atlantic region closer to the coast.

Midwest
Much of the Midwest will have a mild weekend, but look for temperatures to drop a bit by Sunday over northern sections.

On Sunday a windy cold front will traverse the region and a little snow will fall across the Upper Midwest north of Minneapolis. (NWS, Media Sources)

FEMA Regional Winter Updates

Region IV - Tornados in Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina

  • An F2 tornado occurred in Blackwater, Mississippi (Kemper County) at approximately 2:40 am EST Friday. The tornado destroyed or seriously damaged eight homes. Nine injuries were reported with this storm, three of which were serious.
  • Four additional counties in Mississippi experienced major structural damage, totaling 14 homes, four agricultural structures, and 2 businesses.
  • Preliminary reports were received of a possible tornado in Liberty South Carolina (Pickens County) at about 2:30 pm EST Friday which resulted in over a dozen injuries, most of them apparently minor, near Liberty Elementary School. High winds piled cars on top of each other outside the school. At least three people were taken to hospitals.
  • There have been no requests for State/Federal assistance. (FEMA Region IV, NOAA)

Region VI - Oklahoma Winter Storm

  • State and local officials continue to assist Panhandle residents impacted by last week's winter storm.
  • Especially hard hit were Cimarron and Texas counties where upwards of four feet of snow fell and high winds created up to 20-foot snow drifts in some areas.
  • A State of Emergency, as declared by Governor Brad Henry, continues for Beaver, Cimarron and Texas counties.
  • Oklahoma National Guard personnel have completed welfare checks on residents in isolated communities and rural areas in Cimarron County.
  • The Guard personnel have returned to the armory in Enid.
  • Joint PDA teams began to survey damage in the affected Panhandle areas of Texas and Cimarron counties on 1/5/07 and will continue assessments on 1/6/07.
  • Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC) reports about 1,800 Tri-County Electric Cooperative customers remain without power.
  • A shelter continues to operate at the Fairgrounds Building in Boise City. (FEMA Region VI)

Region VI - Louisiana Tornado Damage

  • A Tornado occurred three miles south of New Iberia, Louisiana (Iberia Parish) at approximately 4:47 pm EST Thursday, according to preliminary storm reports. The tornado destroyed approximately 10 homes and damaging at least 50 others. Two fatalities and 15 injuries, two of which were critical, were reported with this storm.
  • Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency in several Louisiana Parishes late Thursday, and toured the New Iberia damage areas around midday Friday.
  • The following parishes have declared states of emergency due to localized flooding or the expectation for flooding to occur:  Vermillion, Allen, Sabine, Acadia, Calcasieu, St Martin, and Pointe Coupee. The Governor's Office of Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) will continue to monitor the situation and provide assistance as needed.  (FEMA Region VI, GOHSEP, NOAA)

Region VII - Kansas Winter Storms

  • Governor Sebelius is requesting an expedited major disaster declaration as a result of the December 28-31, 2006 severe winter storm and record and near record snowfall.
  • Fourteen schools across the declared area remained closed today, down from 19 yesterday and 27 on Wednesday, January 3rd.
  • The Kansas National Guard completed all hay drop air missions Wednesday, however one air hay life mission was cancelled Friday because of a new winter storm. One more mission in Cheyenne County is anticipated after the storm passes.42,000 pounds of hay were dropped by the Kansas National Guard in Greeley County.
  • The death toll among livestock remains fairly low - about 1-3 head per 1,000 head of cattle. Many feed lots remain without power and continue to use backup generator power to pump water.
  • As of Friday, 11,262 electric meters are still off, down from a high of 46,300.
  • 10,500 utility poles are reported down, and muddy road conditions are slowing down replacement activities. Nine Kansas Cooperatives are requesting assistance, and several cooperatives and contractors from not only Kansas but Oklahoma, Missouri, and Colorado - totaling over 400 personnel, are helping.
  • Region VII RRCC activated for this event, in addition to ESF 12 (DOE), ESF 11(APHIS/FSA), ESF 6, NOAA, AmeriCorp (voluntary agency), and USACE. (FEMA Region VII)

Region VII - Nebraska Winter Storms

  • The power situation is fragile. Power is on and off again in the hardest hit areas because of balancing loads of power. NEMA, Public Power Districts (PPD) and the JIC are working together to expedite restoring power to areas hardest hit as well as assisting individuals affected by the storm. The PPDs are also completing damage assessments.
  • The PPDs are reporting 6,700 (customers), 7,800 (customers) and 600 households out of 14,000 households served, respectively, without electric service. Between 2,000 and 3,000 power poles are down.
  • A total of 34 counties are reporting damage to the power systems. Of that, one county reports all power restored and eight others report communities have essential power but nothing in the rural areas. From those counties reporting, 101 jurisdictions suffered power loss; 45 are still without essential service restored.
  • NEMA is still coordinating generators for areas expected to be out for an extended period of time. Communities in need are receiving generators for life safety, providing water, and emergency communications. Iowa and other out-of-state power companies are assisting with crews and trailer mounted generators.
  • The Nebraska Cattlemen Association is coordinating hay donations. The most common concern has been for need to haul water with no power for wells. Area Volunteer Firefighters are hauling water for farmers and ranchers.
  • Fuel issues are occurring in small towns where fuel supplies were being hoarded, however this has now been regulated. Diesel and propane terminal outages occurred at the bulk storage facilities due to lack of power to operate.
  • Shelters open and close daily due to power off and on and off again in damaged areas. Currently numbers include 21 shelters open Friday night, 6 now closed and 1 on standby that housed 337 last evening (with some shelters not reporting occupant numbers). These shelters are also being used as feeding and warming facilities. No shortfalls are reported in facilities, food or water at this time. HHSS and Red Cross are coordinating to meet needs of special needs populations.
  • Potential for Federal involvement is unknown at this time. ESF 6, American Red Cross is continuing the monitoring and support of shelters. The RVII RRCC is housing ESF representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and the American Red Cross, as well as, AmeriCorps and Department of Defense. A local representative from the U.S. Corps of Engineers is also available. At FEMA Region VII direction, ESF-12 is making arrangements to forward deploy one of the DOE representatives to the Nebraska Multi-Agency Coordination Center in Grand Island, NE. (FEMA Region VII)

Region VIII - Colorado Winter Storms

  • Life safety of the public and responders remains the first priority. 
  • Ground feeding of livestock continues throughout the southeast region, as weather permits. 
  • Over the last several days, multiple buildings have collapsed or are in danger of collapsing and efforts are being made to locate structural engineers to assess structural integrity. 
  • Colorado Department of Transportation continues its Department of Emergency Management support mission of the county road effort.
  • Health and Human Services, Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, Colorado Department of Agriculture, Center for Disease Control and Federal Drug Administration discussed potential public health issues resulting from decaying livestock carcasses.
  • The western and mountain sections of the state received approximately 5-8 inches of snow overnight which has caused some traffic slowdowns but local road and bridge departments are handling the situation. 
  • The weather system hit the Denver metropolitan area overnight resulting in several inches of snow causing some school and business cancellations. 
  • Snow is expected to continue to fall throughout the day.  Based upon preliminary reports, local jurisdictions will be able to handle the current snowfall.  A snow and blowing snow advisory continues for the area through 6 pm Friday. 
  • The RRCC and Colorado state EOC will be open through the weekend in response to recent blizzards. (Region VIII)

Region IX - California Winds

  • Powerful winds gusting as high as 70 mph downed power lines in the Los Angeles area early Friday morning, leaving thousands of residents without power for a time.
  • Los Angeles and San Diego have fire weather Red Flag Warnings in effect for southwestern California into next Monday for gusty winds and low humidity. They also have High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories in effect through tonight or Saturday. (FEMA Region IX, NOAA)

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake was reported at 11:52 a.m. EST Friday, 44 miles SW of Anchorage, Alaska.

A 5.0 magnitude earthquake was reported at 10:23 a.m. EST Friday, at a location 100 miles SSW of Hagatna, Guam. No reports of damage or injury from either earthquake ( USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers, media sources)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

The State of Louisiana has requested Individual Assistance PDAs for Iberia and Vermillion Parishes.  One IA team from Region 6 is scheduled to begin PDAs on Monday, January 8, 2007 in response to the recent severe storms and flooding.

Joint PDAs for the Blackfeet Nation in Montana is scheduled to begin on January 8, 2007 in response to 100 mph straight-line winds.  (Region VIII, FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

Governor Bill Owens is requesting an emergency declaration for the State of Colorado as a result of a severe winter storm/blizzard during the period of December 18-22, 2006.  The Governor is requesting emergency assistance and snow removal assistance under the Public Assistance program for a period of 48 hours for 14 counties.

Governor Bill Owens is requesting an Emergency Declaration for the State of Colorado as a result of severe winter storms that impacted the State during the period of December 20-31, 2006. The Governor is requesting direct Federal assistance, for 10 counties to: (1) Fund the cost of feeding and watering of cattle and other livestock, and (2) Fund carcass removal and disposal.

Governor Bill Owens is requesting a snow emergency declaration for the State of Colorado as a result of a major snowfall and severe winter storm/blizzard during the period of December 28-31, 2006. The Governor is specifically requesting Public Assistance Category B (snow removal assistance) for Otero County to support emergency assistance and snow removal assistance for a 72 hour period. (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Monday, 08-Jan-2007 08:27:06 EST