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National Situation Update: Monday, June 23, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

Midwest:
Thunderstorms are forecast this afternoon across the western Plains of Nebraska, North and South Dakota, eastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana as a cold front rolls off the northern Rockies. Hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes may accompany these storms.  Other strong thunderstorms are possible today in the eastern Ohio Valley and the eastern Great Lakes.  On Tuesday the cold front from the western Plains moves into the Mississippi Valley bringing the threat of heavy thunderstorms back to the flood zone. Heavy rain is a possibility across Iowa, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
South:
Thunderstorms may develop later today over northeast Georgia, the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina, producing gusty winds, penny sized hail and cloud-to-ground lightning.  Most of the South will dry out tomorrow as the trough swings away from the area. Florida and coastal Texas may see scattered thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Northeast:
Showers and thunderstorms (some strong to severe) with large hail and damaging wind gusts, are forecast today for the Northeast.  The greatest risk of the severe thunderstorms will be from western New Hampshire and Vermont south to southeastern Virginia.  Temperatures should remain slightly below average with highs in the 70s to lower 80s Monday and Tuesday. A warming trend is expected through the remainder of the week.
West:
Some cooling is expected to occur this week along the coast of California and over northern Rockies.
Temperatures should still climb into the 110s over the Desert Southwest and into the lower 90s to lower 100s over the central valley of California and the valleys of the Intermountain West Monday and Tuesday.  Cooler temperatures continue for the Northwest and the California coast with afternoon temperatures in the 60s to lower 70s.  A Red Flag Warning will be in effect from 6:00 p.m. PDT this evening to 6:00 a.m. PDT Tuesday for the Santa Barbara county south coast due to periods of northerly winds and low humidity.  A Red Flag Warning will also be in effect from 6:00 p.m. PDT this evening to 6:00 a.m. PDT Wednesday for the mountains of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties due to periods of northerly winds and low humidity. (NWS, Media Sources)

Midwest Severe Weather and Flooding

The Mississippi River crest continues to slowly proceed downriver.  USACE, State and local partners are still in a very active floodfight and are monitoring numerous levees along the River.  The only reported levee failure in the last 24 hours was the Sandy Creek Levee in Lincoln County, MO (near the town of Foley).  The Mississippi River at St. Louis is expected to crest on Wednesday, June 25 at 37.3 feet (well below the 1993 flood level of 49.58 feet).  This revised forecast is calling for moderate, not major, flooding.  According to the River Prediction Center, major levee breaks upstream have essentially taken water out of the Mississippi River upstream of the St. Louis gauge.  Plans are developed and in place for the evacuation of East St. Louis, if necessary, although officials do not expect to implement the plans. (NOAA NWS North Central River Forecast Center, USACE, IL Incident Report #15)

FEMA Region V RRCC:

  • Activated at Level II 24/7
  • Region V LNOs deployed to IN, WI, MI and IL EOCs
  • Activated Mississippi River Planning Cell to prepare for impacts of record flooding

Illinois:

  • EOC activated 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  • 3 shelters; population: 35
  • Destroyed:  unknown; Damaged:  1,150
  • Initial Operating Facility (IOF) established at the State EOC in Springfield
  • MERS positioned in Springfield in support of Federal IOF
  • Unified Area Commands (UACs) established in Alton and Quincy
  • FEMA Region I ERT-A on site at Rock Island, IL
  • FEMA Region V IMAT conducting operations in IL
  • Denver-MERS team on site at IL EOC
  • Joint IA PDAs ongoing; PA PDAs scheduled to begin this week

Indiana:

  • EOC is not activated
  • 4 fatalities; 42 injuries (Reported by JFO)
  • 0 shelter; population: 0
  • Destroyed:  281; Damaged:  4,895
  • A "Mission Planning Team" has been deployed to the JFO to scope housing issues with the State as part of a Joint Housing Task Force.
  • Joint IA/PA PDAs ongoing; IA has completed PDAs in 40 counties requested by the state; PA has completed 26 of 50 PDAs requested.
  • 9 FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) open

Wisconsin:

  • EOC activated at Level I, 24/7
  • 1 fatality; 0 injuries
  • 1 shelter; population: 16
  • Destroyed:  85; Damaged:  1,934
  • Joint IA PDAs completed in 6 counties; 24 counties ongoing
  • Joint PA PDAs ongoing
  • FEMA Region II ERT-A on site in Madison
  • JFO established in Madison, WI
  • 5 FEMA Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers (MDRCs) supporting 6 FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) located in Reedsburg, Columbus, Soldiers Grove, Viroqua, St. Portage, and Milwaukee (FEMA-1768-DR-WI SITREP #07)

FEMA Region VII RRCC:

  • Level II, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CDT
  • Region IV IMAT deployed to Cedar Rapids, IA

Iowa:

  • EOC is partially activated
  • 17 fatalities; 106 injuries
  • 7 shelters; population: 270
  • Destroyed:  405; Damaged:  24,970
  • IA and PA PDAs ongoing (FEMA-1763-DR-IA SITREP #22)

Missouri:

  • EOC activated at Level I, 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CDT (SEMA staff only) (RVII Incident Report # 13)
  • 3 shelters; population: 35
  • Destroyed:  154; Damaged:  694
  • USCG Liaison at State EOC
  • NLSA (National Logistics Staging Area) established at Lambert Field, St. Louis

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

A Fire Management Assistance Grant, FEMA-2776-FM, was approved for the Wild Fire in Napa and Solano Counties, CA. 

  • 3,500 acres are involved; 35% contained
  • No injuries or fatalities
  • 1 residence and 1 outbuilding destroyed
  • 250 homes (possibly up to 1,500 homes) threatened, 2 commercial properties, and 50 outbuildings
  • Evacuation orders in place for 250 residences; shelter established
  • Town of Green Valley threatened (FEMA HQ,CA OES. FEMA)   

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean

  • Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.

Eastern Pacific

  • Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.

Western Pacific:

  • No threat to US territories. (NOAA, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Sunday, June 22, 2008:
National Wildfire Preparedness Level: 3

  • Initial attack activity:  Heavy (776 new fires)
  • New large fires:  5
  • Uncontained large fires:  18
  • Large fires contained: 1 (National Interagency Fire Center, National Incident Information Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:35:17 EDT