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National Situation Update: Saturday, February 14, 2009

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

West: 
An area of low pressure along the northern California coastline and an associated front moving down through California continues to spread rain and snow.

Another, storm will move though California on Sunday and Monday. This will result in more heavy snow over the northern coastal mountains, Siskiyou and Sierra.

A series of disturbances in the upper wind flow will bring Pacific moisture into the West. Snow is expected on Saturday in the elevated areas of southwestern Oregon and California.  In southern California at elevations above 3,000 feet snow is expected in the Santa Barbara, Venture, and Los Angeles county mountains.  Snowfalls of 4 to 8 inches are expected, with local amounts of 12 inches possible.

The lower elevations north of San Francisco could be locally impacted with as much as 6 or 8 inches of rain by early Monday.

Mudslides are possible along the pacific Coast Highway and surrounding higher elevations.
Southern California will see additional feet of snow, with up to 4 inches of rain from Santa Barbara County to north of San Diego.

Las Vegas and the lower Colorado River Valley could be impacted with rain by early week.
Another storm will approach the West Coast by the middle of next week. It is unclear whether the storm will remain off shore or will affect immediate coastal areas of California.

Midwest: 
The storm that produced snow over parts of Nebraska and Iowa will wind down considerably as it heads toward the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions.

High pressure will move southward over the area behind this storm and keep things mainly dry tomorrow as a weak storm approaches from the west.  This system will only produce very light snow or a light rain/snow from the central Plains into the Ohio Valley.

Highs will be mainly in the single digits and teens in North Dakota and northern Minnesota through tomorrow while highs from southeast Kansas to along the Ohio River will only be in the lower 40s.

South: 
A weak area of low pressure will move from the Kentucky/Tennessee area today to well off the coastal Carolinas by early tomorrow.  Light rain will move across the region today but tomorrow will feature heavier rain and thunderstorms from eastern Texas and Louisiana to southern Georgia and northern Florida.

Northeast:
Today will still be windy over Maine as a strong area of low pressure churns in the North Atlantic.  Most of the area will be dry, except for a few snow flurries from the Great Lakes to New England into tomorrow.
Highs will range from the 20s along the Canadian border to the 40s and lower 50s in the Virginias.  (NOAA, National Weather Service, Various Media Sources)

New York Airline Crash

A Continental Airlines flight crashed into a house outside Buffalo, New York on February 12, 2009. 50 individuals on the aircraft and one in the house were killed. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

Erie County has requested incident management assistance from the NYS Incident Management Team (IMT).  The IMT currently has two members enroute with the remainder of the team making deployment preparations.  Erie County Health has requested a refrigerated truck - this request is being addressed by the State EOC.  (Region II DSAR Feb 13)

Winter Ice Storms - Update

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

Region IV

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

Kentucky   
State EOC returns to normal operations at 1900 EST Feb 13. (JFO Field Rpt Feb 13)
Fatalities: 35 confirmed fatalities for FEMA 1818-DR-KY and FEMA 3302-EM-KY 
ARC and faith-based Shelters: 8 / Occupants: 122

Power Outages: There are approximately 15,000 customers without power in Kentucky due to the February 11 high wind event.(JFO ESF-12 Field Rpt Feb 13)
There are approximately 15,500 customers without power in Kentucky due to the ice storm.(JFO ESF-12 Field Rpt 4:00 pm Feb 13)

Joint FEMA/Commonwealth PA PDA continues.(JFO Field Rpt Feb 13)
MERS personnel are supporting disaster operations at 4 different sites; 4 MERS assets will be demobilized by February 14.
All shelters are scheduled to close at COB February 13, 2009. (JFO Field Rpt Feb 13)

Region VI

Region VIII Logistics liaison deploying to Oklahoma to locate potential IOF/JFO. (FEMA Region VI)
Two teams conducting IA PDAs in Oklahoma.(Region VI DSAR Feb 13)
Three teams conducting PA PDAs in Oklahoma. (Region VI DSAR Feb 13)
Four teams conducting IA PDAs in Arkansas.(Region VI DSAR Feb 13)

Arkansas   
Power Outages: 17,193 customers. (AR JFO Feb 12)
Shelters: 5 / Occupants: 51; All ARC shelters closed.(AR JFO Feb 12)
Boil Water Orders: 8 counties. (AR JFO Feb 12)
No unmet needs or limiting factors.

Region VII

Missouri
The MO EOC is activated at Level II, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CST.
Fatalities: 8.
Power Outages: 7,197 customers; the majority of power outages remain isolated to the extreme southwest portion of the state. (Region VII DSAR Feb 13)
Shelters: 2 / Occupants: 21.(Region VII DSAR Feb 13)

Severe Weather / Tornadoes in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas

A strong storm system moved through southwest and central Oklahoma and Texas Tuesday evening February 10, and overnight, resulting in severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and high winds impacting counties in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas

Oklahoma
The Governor declared a State of Emergency for 17 Oklahoma Counties(Region VI Sitrep #7)
Fatalities: 8 (confirmed) in Lone Grove (Charter County).
Injuries: 17.
All power has been restored (Region VI DSAR Feb 13)
Shelters (Red Cross): 1 / Occupants: 6 (and Ardmore).(Region VI Spot Report #7, Feb 13)
Destroyed: 110 residences / Damaged: 123 residences.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and members of the Oklahoma National Guard remain in Lone Grove assisting local law enforcement with perimeter control and security. (Region VI DSAR Feb 13)

Avian Influenza Confirmed In Second Flock in British Columbia

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the presence of H5 avian influenza virus in a second commercial poultry operation in British Columbia.

All flocks were tested as part of the surveillance activity within three kilometers of the commercial poultry operation where low pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza was detected.
Tests to date indicate that the strain of avian influenza on the new premises is also low pathogenic and similar to the original strain identified.

Additional testing is underway to confirm precise subtype and strain of the virus.
All birds on the new infected premises will be euthanized and disposed of in accordance with environmental regulations and international disease control guidelines.

Once all birds have been removed, the CFIA will oversee the cleaning and disinfection of the barns, vehicles, equipment and tools to eliminate any infectious material that may remain.  In order to limit any potential virus spread, the CFIA is applying movement restrictions on commercial operations within three kilometers of the new infected premises.

This new three-kilometer radius around the new infected premises overlaps the three-kilometer radius around the index premises. The CFIA is placing quarantines on an additional 10 premises as a result.

Three farms outside the three-kilometer radius around the first infected premises recently completed a 21-day monitoring period and met the requirements for quarantine release.
Thirty-three (33) farms remain under quarantine as a result of the first detection.
Animal health and public health authorities from the Province of British Columbia, local poultry specialists and industry are actively collaborating in this response effort.

In keeping with international agreements, the CFIA is reporting this new finding to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and international trading partners. (Media Sources)

Volcanic Activity – Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

As of 13 February, unrest at Mount Redoubt continues

Elevated seismicity is continuing, dominated by ongoing volcanic tremor and occasional small earthquakes.

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, 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

There were a total of 10 earthquakes approximately 60 miles off the northern coast of Puerto Rico.  The earthquakes ranged between magnitude 3.1 and 3.6. There were no tsunami warnings or watches generated and no reports of damage or injuries. (USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

The Governor of Oklahoma is requesting a major disaster declaration for the State of Oklahoma as a result of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding from February 10-11, 2009.

The Governor is specifically requesting Individual Assistance for Carter, Logan, and Oklahoma Counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide.  (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:27:29 EDT