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National Situation Update: Monday, April 6, 2009

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant Weather

West:
Pleasant weather continues across the region.
Midwest:
Snow showers are forecast across the Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley.  Rain may mix with snow across eastern sections of the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes including Cincinnati and Cleveland.  A Freeze Warning remains in effect until 9 a.m. CDT today, for portions of Missouri and eastern Indiana.  Flood Warnings continue for rivers in Minnesota and North Dakota.  Minor to moderate flooding will continue on several tributaries to the Red River over northwestern Minnesota. Water levels will continue to fall across the area the next several days since the recent cold weather has reduced melting and inflow to the rivers. However, the rivers in parts of west central Minnesota could begin rising again as soon as next weekend, depending on how quickly temperatures warm up.
South:
Showers and thunderstorms are expected along a cold front moving from the eastern Carolinas to Florida.  Isolated thunderstorms, some severe, with strong winds, hail and tornadoes are possible.  A Freeze Warning remains in effect until 9 a.m. CDT today, for portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Flood Warnings remain in effect for several rivers throughout the region.
Northeast:
A cold front moving through the region may produce rain, gusty winds, thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes from southern New Jersey and Maryland south to eastern Virginia.  Flood Warnings have been issued for several rivers in northern Maine. (NWS, and Various Media Sources)

Red River Flood Preparations

Federal Response:
FEMA Headquarters

  • FEMA NRCC is at Watch/Steady State; 24/7 (Watch only)
  • National IMAT West deployed to ND EOC

Region VIII:

  • RRCC at Watch/Steady State       
  • ERT-A deployed to Bismarck, ND
  • Plan to close Grand Forks Federal Staging Area NLT COB April 9; currently identifying warehouse capacity for storing commodities.

North Dakota

  • CBP Predator flights scheduled to fly 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Mon. - Fri.
  • PDA teams started assessments in seven counties.
  • Planning for second Red River crest April 15-22.

Region V

  • 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CDT with all ESFs on standby.
  • Transition from IFO to JFO has begun; JFO scheduled to be fully operational April 8
  • One FEMA LNO; Region V IMAT at MN SEOC
  • No unmet needs

Minnesota

  • State EOC Partial Activation 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CDT; State agencies on standby.
  • IA PDAs (7 counties) and PA PDAs were completed April 4.
  • All evacuation orders for Minnesota have been lifted
  • All shelters are closed.
  • IOF staff making plans for movement of commodities to an Interim Staging Base (ISB) in Dilworth, MN from Grand Forks NLSA. ISB Scheduled to open April 9th.

Flooding and Severe Weather in the South

  • Extremely heavy rainfall over southern Georgia, Alabama, and northern Florida has resulted in major, and in some cases record flooding.
  • Another strong storm system will affect the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend area today. There is a potential for severe thunderstorms.  Rain totals expected to be less than 2 inches. Local amounts up to 4" possible.

Alabama:

  • State EOC will be at Level III
  • PA PDAs are scheduled to begin April 7 in six counties.
  • IA PDAs are scheduled to begin April 14 for three counties.
  • Power has been restored to most customers

Florida:

  • State EOC is at Level II
  • Sixteen counties with local States of Emergency declarations
  • Joint IA PDAs are scheduled to begin in six counties today
  • Numerous road and bridge closures.

Georgia:

  • State EOC is at Level II; FEMA liaison at GA EOC
  • Governor declared State of Emergencies for 16 counties 
  • Locally declared State of Emergencies for 10 counties
  • One fatality; two injuries
  • Two shelters; population: 19
  • Numerous road and bridge closures.
  • Voluntary evacuations in several counties due to flooding

Mississippi:

  • MS EOC returned to Level 3 (normal operations) on April 3.
  • Injuries: 29; Damage: 808 structures reported damaged or destroyed in 38 counties.

Mt Redoubt

Eruptions continue with small earthquakes and intermittent tremors.
A brief signal at about 10:36 AKDT April 5th, was likely a small avalanche on the north flank of the volcano.

The AVO (Alaska Volcano Observatory) web camera shows a continuous plume rising above the summit to less than 15,000 feet and drifting southeast.
A smaller, intermittent plume has been sighted coming from the northwest base of the volcano.  On April 4th, plans to transfer 2.8 million gallons of oil from the Drift River Oil Terminal (DROT) near Mt. Redoubt were postponed when the volcano erupted again.  According to the USCG, the transfer is in progress.  Almost six million gallons of oil will be removed and replaced with water to ballast the tanks. The volcano remains at Aviation Color Code RED and Alert Level WARNING.

Powerful Earthquake Strikes Italy

At least 27 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, BBC reports.  The magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck at 9:32 p.m. EDT about 60 miles north-east of Rome, at a depth of 6 miles.  Television images showed rubble on the streets and a collapsed house.  Civil Protection officials told the BBC that 3,000 to 10,000 buildings may be damaged.  Officials fear the death toll will rise as workers sift through the rubble.  Rescue  workers were reported to be on the scene. L'Aquila is a medieval town with a number of old buildings.  An Italian journalist told the BBC that the city centre had been hard hit. "All the people are now on the road, queuing - trying to reach a safety area," he said.  The earthquake was also felt in Rome; the BBC correspondent there said he was awakened by the shaking.  An aftershock with a magnitude of 4.8 was reported about an hour later by the US Geological Survey.  Two smaller earthquakes struck the same region of Italy on Sunday but caused no damage.  (Media Sources)

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

FEMA 2803-FM-TX was approved April 5 for the Holiday Beach Fire in Aransas County, TX.  This fire encompasses 70 acres of private land, with zero percent containment.  The fire is threatening 100 homes and other buildings, infrastructure, utilities and businesses causing an economic threat.  Four homes and six other buildings have been lost in the fire.  Fifty people have been evacuated. (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Western Pacific:
No tropical cyclone activity affecting U.S territories in the Western Pacific. (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 16:26:19 EDT