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National Situation Update: Saturday, March 21, 2009

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National Weather

Midwest
Snow is forecast over parts of northern Michigan and some rain and scattered thunderstorms will move across Kansas and Missouri. Parts of southern Missouri could see up to an inch of rain.
Highs Saturday will range from the upper 50s and low 60s in the Ohio Valley and the 70s in the high Plains of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

Sunday will be warm with strong winds across the Plains and Midwest. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop across the Plains and mid-Mississippi River Valley. Locally heavy rain is anticipated across northern Kansas, northern Missouri, southern Iowa and eastern North Dakota.

Flooding is expected to pose problems for areas in North Dakota and Minnesota; numerous flood warnings are in effect along the Red River and its tributaries in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. Heavy rains will add to the ongoing flooding in eastern Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

West
Precipitation will increase across the Pacific Northwest; the unsettled weather will move southward into northern California and eastward into the northern Rockies.

Snow is expected in the lower elevations in the Washington Cascades and higher elevations of northern California and the central Sierras; rainfall will range from 1 to 2 inches in the upslope areas of the mountains. Parts of the Cascades and northern Sierra will see near a foot of new snow; Colorado and New Mexico will receive some rain and thunderstorms and high elevation snow.

South
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast for the southern Plains today.

Red Flag Warnings will be in effect for the Panhandle and northern Florida for late in the morning due to moderate winds and low relative humidity.

Northeast
High pressure will keep the Northeast dry through the coming weekend and beyond.
Saturday highs will range from the upper 30s in northern Maine to the 50s in the Mid-Atlantic.(NWS, Media Sources)

North Dakota Flood Preparations

Current Weather
Flooding has begun along the Red River at Wahpeton and the Red River at Fargo, North Dakota, and is forecast for other parts of North Dakota and Minnesota. Flood Warnings are in effect for locations in North Dakota and Minnesota. Significant rains are expected early next week (late Sunday through Tuesday). This should produce showers and thunderstorms with locally heavy rainfall which could aggravate the flooding. (NOAA)

Federal Response:
FEMA NRCC is at Watch/Steady State (24/7).
The NRCC continues to monitor activation and readiness and any anticipated actions with Regions V and VIII through teleconferences.

A Mobile Emergency Response System (MERS) will deploy to Bismark, ND on Tuesday, March 24.

US Coast Guard has begun to stage and place air and land resources on alert.  Three Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART) are on alert.  A USCG Liaison has deployed to the MN State EOC.

Region V
RRCC is at Watch/Steady State - 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. CDT (12/7); LNO deployed to the Minnesota EOC; Region V IMAT on stand-by. The RRCC is prepared to go 24/7 and increase to Level III; operating hours will mirror MN's EOC.

Region V continues regular contacts with respective states in order to maintain situational awareness.
Coordination continues with Region VIII on shared resources (GIS products and remote sensing)
No limiting factors or unmet needs at this time.

Minnesota
EOC partially activated - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT through the weekend.

The Governor of Minnesota declared a State of Emergency for seven counties and signed Emergency Executive Order 09-05 on March 20 activating the Minnesota National Guard to assist in flood preparations in the Red River Valley and to provide emergency relief services.

Eight counties are in active flood fight; sandbagging operations are underway in three counties; active temporary dike building is on-going. Primarily overland flooding; some damage to roads and culverts.
USACE St. Paul District EOC is fully activated conducting 24 hour operations to provide technical assistance and resources to Minnesota and North Dakota.

Region VIII:
The RRCC is at Watch/Steady State - 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. MDT through the weekend.

The State EOCs in the region are not activated. The Region is monitoring Red River Flooding preparations and continues close coordination with the State of North Dakota; Flood Warnings remain in effect for parts of ND and SD.

A two-person Region State Support Team (Planning and Operations) and GIS Specialist deployed to the ND EOC; a 5 person MERS deployment team will deploy March 24 to augment Region VIII ERT-A team arriving Monday, March 23.

North Dakota
The EOC remains at Level III (Normal Operations). The ND Governor declared statewide flood emergency March 13; 16 cities and 13 counties have declared local States of Emergency.

The State anticipates the need for up to 3 million sandbags; North Dakota has 5 million available and another 10 million are available from Minnesota. Minot AFB providing 100 personnel to support sandbagging operations.

Emergency levee construction continues in Fargo and will begin in other locations this weekend.
USACE supporting with increasing dike and levee walls; 79 engineers deployed. 224 North Dakota National Guard soldiers and airmen will assist with construction of temporary levees and sandbagging operations in the Red River Valley beginning today. (Regions V &VIII, FEMA HQ, USACE, USCG, NGB)

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

FEMA-2800-FM-Texas:  A Fire Management Assistant Grant was approved March 20, 2009 for the Green Wood Fire in Midland County TX, 5 miles from Midland TX. The fire started Friday, Mar 20.  Approximately 1,000 acres have burned. The fire is 85% contained. There were 113 homes, 51 outbuildings, eight oil wells, six water wells and three tank batteries threatened and saved. Two outbuildings lost. Private oil field companies provided water transport. (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Western Pacific:
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

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:26:46 EDT