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National Situation Update: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National National Weather Forecast

West:
The western Coastal States are forecast to receive an abundance of precipitation in the form of rain showers for lower elevations and snow for mountainous regions.  Winter Storm Warnings for the interior mountains of northern California are in effect until 10:00 p.m. PST tonight.  Snowfall accumulation of 5-12 inches is expected between the elevations of 3000-5000 feet.  A Surf Warning will be in effect for the south-central Oregon coastline from 4:00 a.m. PST to 4:00 p.m. PST today.  Breaking waves of 22-30 feet are anticipated. 
Midwest:
The severe weather system affecting the southern Plains will continue moving towards the northeast and bring heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and possible tornadoes to the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys.  High Wind Warnings will be in effect from midnight CST tonight through early Thursday morning for southeastern Missouri, northern Idaho and western Ohio.  Winds are expected to average between 40-58 mph with gusts to 65 mph.  Winter Storm Warnings for snow and freezing rain continue for western and central North Dakota until 6:00 a.m. CST this morning.  An overall total snow accumulation of 8-16 inches is expected by the end of this storm.  A Flood Warning is in effect for several rivers in south-central South Dakota, northeast Nebraska, portions of Iowa and Illinois, northwest Indiana, southern portions of Wisconsin, south-central Michigan and north-central Ohio until further notice.
South:
Severe weather impacting the southern Plains overnight will continue to move northeast today, bringing the possibility of thunderstorms, strong winds, and tornadoes to portions of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.  High Wind Warnings will be in effect from 3:00 a.m. CST today through early Thursday morning for northern and portions of eastern Arkansas, northern Georgia, portions throughout Tennessee and southwest North Carolina.  Winds are expected to average between 30-58 mph with gusts 60 mph or more.  A Tornado Watch remains in effect for north-central Texas until 5:00 a.m. CST this morning.  A Flood Warning is in effect for the Cache River near Patterson, Arkansas until further notice.  A Red Flag Warning continues to be in effect for southwest portions of Texas through late this  evening.
Northeast:
Light snow showers are expected for Upstate New York, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia throughout the day.  The low pressure system affecting the South is expected to reach the Appalachians by late tonight; scattered wind damage and possible power outages may occur across parts of northwest Pennsylvania and western New York through early Thursday.  High Wind Warnings will be in effect from 4:00 a.m. EST this morning to 4:00 a.m. EST Thursday for southwest Virginia.  Winds are expected to be 40mph with gusts 58 mph or more. (NOAA, National Weather Service, Various Media Sources)

Winter Ice Storms - Update

Recovery efforts continue for impacted areas.  Federal, State and Local governments are coordinating these response and recovery operations

Winter Ice Storm – Region IV

RRCC Status: at Watch/ Steady State; 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST (M-F)

  • Command and control has transitioned to the Kentucky JFO, which stood up on February 7th;  hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST (12/7)  (RIV Status Briefing, 1818-DR, EST, Feb 7& KY JFO Sitrep #2 as of Feb 9)
  • Emergency Declaration (FEMA-3302-EM-KY) was signed on January 28, 2009
  • Major Disaster Declaration (FEMA-1818-DR-KY) was signed on February 5, 2009
  • FEMA shipments of commercial meals with or without peanut butter products have been halted until further notice

 Kentucky

  • State EOC remains activated at Level III (Full Activation)
  • Fatalities: 30 confirmed fatalities for FEMA 1818-DR-KY and FEMA 3302-EM-KY   (KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb 10)
  • ARC and non-ARC Shelters: 19 (-11) Occupants: 413 (-71) (KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb 10)
  • Power Outages: 42,169 (-14,831); some cooperatives are estimating it may take up to a month to restore all individual customers, although the bulk of customers should be restored within a week (DOE as of 5:00 p.m. EST  Feb 10)
  • Boil Water Advisories remain in effect for 22 (-1) counties affecting a total population of 73,700 (-10,470) (KY JFO SITREP 32 Feb 10)
  • The Critical Facilities Assessment Task Force currently is moving crews throughout the Commonwealth for power site assessments/data analysis for critical infrastructure/key resources; as of February 9th, assessments have been completed on 158 out of 2,085 structures (KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb10)
  • 9 Joint FEMA/Commonwealth PA PDA teams have completed PDAs in 11 of 120 counties ( KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb 10)
  • 12 Community Health Assessment Teams (CHAT) composed of the Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Medical (CDC) and Commonwealth personnel have completed assessments of 630 homes for potential health needs; expect to be complete by February 11th -12th (KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb 10)
  • MERS personnel are supporting disaster operations at 4 different sites; all MERS assets will be demobilized by February 13th (KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb 10)
  • All medical facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes and critical care facilities are fully operational; 1 (-1) nursing home remains on generator ( KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb10)
  • A total of 157 generators have been installed; zero are in process and 19 (+13) have been de-installed (KY JFO SITREP #3 Feb 10)
  • No additional needs for critical commodities

Winter Ice Storm – Region V

RRCC Status: at Watch/Steady State, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CST (12/7)
Illinois
Joint PA PDAs are on-going for 7 counties

Winter Ice Storms – Region VI

RRCC Status:   at Watch/Steady State, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CST (M-F)

  • Arkansas JFO is located in North Little Rock; MEOV and IMAT personnel are currently located at the JFO
  • Emergency Declaration (FEMA-3301-EM-AR) was signed on January 28, 2009
  • Major Disaster Declaration (FEMA-1819-DR-AR) was signed on February 6, 2009
  • Individual Assistance (IA) PDAs began in 3 of 15 requested counties on February 9th; anticipate completion by February 13th (JFO Sitrep Feb 10)
  • PA PDAs have been completed for 32 counties (JFO Sitrep Feb 10)

Arkansas

  • State EOC activated at Level IV (Full Activation) 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST (12/7)
    Level I (Normal Operations/Monitoring) from 7:30 p.m. CST - 7:30 a.m. CST
  • Fatalities: 19 confirmed fatalities (JFO Sitrep Feb 10)
  • Shelters 8 (+1); Occupants: 70 All Red Cross shelters have closed (JFO  Sitrep Feb 10)
  • Power Outages: 26,646 (-678) customers; restoration unknown at this time (JFO  Sitrep Feb 10)
  • 77 (-14) generators installed; no requests for more installations, and 10 requests for de-installations (currently 64 de-installed) (JFO  Sitrep Feb 10)
  • 1 hospital and 1 nursing home in Clay County remain on generator power (JFO Sitrep Feb 10)
  • Boil water orders remain in place for 12 (-2) counties (JFO Sitrep Feb 10)
  • No limiting factors or unmet needs

Oklahoma Texas Severe Weather

Oklahoma

  • A strong storm system moved through southwest and central Oklahoma yesterday and overnight, resulting in severe thunderstorms and tornadoes impacting 10 counties
  • State EOC is at Level II (limited, with extended hours for key personnel)
  • Tornado touch downs were  reported near northwest Oklahoma City in the City of Edmund, resulting in 6 destroyed homes
  • A tornado struck a trailer park in the Town of Lone Grove, resulting in an unconfirmed report of 8 fatalities and up to 50 injuries (Media Sources)
  • Logan County Emergency Management reports 20 homes damaged in the Oak Cliff Fire District east-southeast of Guthrie; no reports of injuries
  • 29,000 power outages in Bethany, North Oklahoma City, and Perkins
  • Continued tornado activity expected; multiple Warnings & Watches remain in effect  for OK
  • Region VI RRCC monitoring situation and in contact with OK DEM
  • Shelters 3; Occupants unknown  (R VI, SITREP #3, Feb 10)
  • FEMA/State Liaison deployed to OK EOC (R VI, SITREP #3, Feb 10)

Texas

  • A strong storm system moved into west-central Texas today, resulting in severe thunderstorms and tornadoes
  • State EOC is at Level I (emergency operations)
  • Several homes and out building have been destroyed or damaged
  • Unknown power outages reported
  • No injuries or deaths have been reported

Winter Ice Storm – Region VII

  • RRCC Status: activated at Level III, 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CST
  • Emergency Declaration (FEMA-3303-EM-MO) was signed on January 30, 2009
  • LNOs have been released by state EOCs
  • ESFs 3 and 8 are on stand-by; ESF 12 continues to provide support from a remote location.
  • PDA:  IA PDAs continue in Missouri for 16 counties; PA PDAs were completed for 20 counties

Missouri

  • State EOC activated at Level II (all state agencies activated), 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CST
  • Governor requested a Major Disaster Declaration on February 6
  • Fatalities: 8 confirmed
  • Shelters: 4 (-2)  / Occupants: 0 (-33) (MO EMA SITREP, Feb 10)
  • Power outages: 8,726 (-2,304) customers (MO EMA SITREP Feb 10)
  • Five nursing homes on generator power.  (MO EMA SITREP, Feb 10)
  • 3 Boil Water Orders in effect ; 4 Boil Water Orders have been lifted since February 10th
  • Precautionary Boil Water Orders are in effect for the cities of Arbyrd and Cardwell (MO EMA SITREP, Feb 10)
  • No unmet needs and issues

Volcanic Activity – Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

Mount Redoubt was relatively quiet on February 10, after emitting a steam plume several hundred feet above the crater on the previous day.  Overall, the seismic activity at the volcano 100 miles southwest of Anchorage has decreased in the past 24 hours.  FAA continues to restrict air travel in a 10 mile radius around Redoubt to 60,000 MSL.  The Aviation Color Code remains at ORANGE and the Volcano Alert Level remains at WATCH(Region X, NICC, AVO, USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program)

Fire Management Assistance Grant

No activity  (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Western Pacific:
There are no current tropical cyclone warnings  (NOAA, HPC, 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)

Disaster Declaration Activity

The Governor of Oklahoma requested a Major Disaster Declaration on February 10th as a result of severe freezing rain, ice and snow storms that occurred January 26-29, 2009.  Specifically requested is Public Assistance for 4 counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide. (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:27:34 EDT