Tuesday, May 24, 2011

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Midwest Severe Weather Outbreak

Over 1,000 reports of severe weather were received across parts of the Plains, Midwest, and Ohio Valley over the weekend.Â* Many tornadoes hit parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri Sunday afternoon and evening. The hardest hit areas were the Minneapolis (Hennepin County), Minnesota and Joplin (Jasper County), Missouri areas.Â*
Joplin, Missouri (Jasper County)
Â*An EF-4 tornado occurred May 22 in Joplin (population 49,024) in Jasper County. The most heavily populated areas and the major business and commercial areas were hardest hit; wind speeds reached up to 198 mph and cut a path a mile wide for at least six miles. A State of Emergency had already been previously declared for the recent storms in the State.
There are 116 confirmed fatalities, 200 people are missing (unconfirmed), and over 400 people are injured. St. Johnâs Hospital was severely damaged and has been evacuated. Patients were evacuated to hospitals within the state or to surrounding states and 12 aerial medical transports and 100 ambulance transports were completed. Other hospitals in the area are at maximum patient capacity and operating on emergency power. A nursing home and other healthcare centers have been destroyed. One ARC shelter is open with 110 occupants (1,000 occupant capacity) . The number of occupants is expected to increase overnight. A second shelter has been opened for household pets. An estimated 14,000 customers remain without power. Interstate 44 has now re-opened and the boil water order for the city has been lifted.
State and Local Response
Urban Search and Rescue Missouri Task Force 1 (state asset) deployed 85 personnel to Joplin to assist with search and rescue efforts. The Advance Team arrived first, followed by an 18 person Search and Reconnaissance Team, with the rest of the Task Force arriving by late night on May 22. The Task Force is conducting a full grid search.Â* Search and Rescue teams from Kansas and Arkansas, along with the Kansas City SAR team are also conducting search and rescue. An IST (Incident Support Team) from Tulsa, Oklahoma is also on scene. The Missouri National Guard has been activated. 400-500 firefighters are also working the response. The State activated its DMORT and DMAT teams and the State SMAT (Mortuary asset) is in place.
Â*Logistics has two truckloads of water in Springfield, Missouri and four truckloads of 15 generator packs in the Camp Crowder staging area; two additional truckloads of water and one truckload of MREs will arrive at Camp Crowder today, May 24, 2011.
City of St. Louis, Missouri
Thunderstorms impacted the city of St. Louis and surrounding counties on May 22, 2011. At its peak, 65,000 customers were without power in St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson counties and 17,250 currently customers remain without power. There are numerous reports of roof damages in Franklin County and reports of downed trees and power lines throughout the area.
Kansas
Â*There were reports of 14 tornado touchdowns with damaging winds and hail statewide. The City of Reading (population 231) in Lyon County was hardest hit by tornado damage. 26 homes were destroyed and 30 homes sustained major damage. Ten commercial buildings were destroyed and four commercial buildings sustained major damage. There is one confirmed fatality and several injuries/ One ARC shelter is open with no occupants. The City of Reading remains without power. Highway 170 is closed through the city of Reading.
Minnesota
Â*Severe storms on May 22, 2011, impacted the east central portions of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis (Hennepin county) was hardest hit with reports of a damage path 3.5 miles long and 300 yards wide. There were two fatalities and 30 injuries.
Wisconsin
Â*Severe storms and tornadoes moved through the central portion of Wisconsin on May 22, 2011. An EF-1 tornado was confirmed in Monroe county and an EF-2 tornado was confirmed near Tomah. Other tornadoes were reported in central Wisconsin damaging several homes and barns. The most significant damage was from a tornado that went through the city of La Crosse. No fatalities were reported and there were ten injuries. Downed power lines and damaged homes caused residents to evacuate. Damage assessments are ongoing. At its peak, over 13,000 customers were without power; 1,400 remain without power but power restoration was expected overnight. All main roads have been cleared.

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Pennsylvania Severe Weather Outbreak

On May 23, 2011, severe weather impacted the Evandale and Richfield area (Juniata and Synder counties) of Pennsylvania and there were reports of a possible tornado touchdown. The Juniata County EOC is activated. Several homes and barns were damaged. There were no reports of injuries at this time. There were no requests for FEMA assistance.
Mississippi Valley Flooding

Â*Moderate to Major flood crests have been reached and will continue on through May 29, 2011, depending on location. USACE continues to monitor the crest and continues flood fighting measures throughout the Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) system.Â* Gages below Morganza have crested and are expected to remain at crest/current levels for another week. The River is forecast to fall below flood stage on May 27.
Louisiana
Â* 17 of 125 gates are open along the Morganza Floodway.Â*
330 of 350 gates are open along the Bonnet Carre Spillway (100% capacity) and they are anticipated to remain open for another one to two weeks. Mandatory evacuations will be reinstated for Butte La Rose, Happy Town and LA 975 (Sherburne Wildlife area) of St. Martin Parish today, May 24, 2011.Â* 90% of the population has already evacuated. Mandatory evacuations remain in effect for St. Landry Parish for residents living on the east side of the levee. Mandatory evacuations have been lifted for residents in areas south of Highway 190, the Three Mile Lake area, and the North Wilderness Road area but these areas will remain under voluntary evacuation until further notice.Â* No shelters are open but ARC has shelters on standby if requested.Â* The State has identified sufficient shelter capacity to meet anticipated needs.
The Port Allen Lock, Old River Lock, Port Allen and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) alternate route, and Bayou Chene from Bayou Penchant to the GIWW, are closed. Amtrak service between New Orleans and Chicago resumed on May 20, 2011. The route between Cairo, Illinois and Memphis, Tennessee has been closed since April 26, 2011.

Mississippi
Â*Five shelters are open with 29 occupants. One fatality has been confirmed. 4,523 power outages were reported statewide.Â* Seven MCOVs are operational across the state. Five DRCs are open in Tunica, Desoto, Bolivar, Yazoo, and Wilkinson counties. Four water treatment plants remain non operational until water levels drop.Â* The Yazoo County airport has re-opened.

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Northeast Flooding

Â*Vermont
Â*State of Emergency remains in effect. IA teams are on site and in the field.Â* Record flooding is forecast to continue and Flood Warnings continue for Lake Champlain.
New York
Â*Major Flooding is ongoing and Flood Warnings continue for Lake Champlain at Rouses Point.Â* States of emergency remain in effect for various towns and villages in the following counties: Clinton, Essex, Allegany, Oneida and Washington counties due to flash flooding that occurred in April; Cattaraugus County continues under a State of Emergency due to flash flooding that occurred on May 19, 2011. One shelter is open with 28 occupants.Â*Â*

Significant National Weather

West:Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*
A surface front and an upper level low will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms across the Northern and Central Rockies.Â* Locally heavy showers will produce up to an inch or two of precipitation. Westerly winds of 15 to 20 mph with higher gusts and low relative humidity will result in critical fire weather from eastern Arizona to western Texas. Tonight and tomorrow a system will move ashore and produce precipitation from Northern California to the Pacific Northwest.
Midwest:
The system moving out of the Rockies will produce precipitation across the Northern and Central Plains. A frontal system extends from the Great Lakes to a low over the Texas Panhandle.Â* This front will interact with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to produce extensive precipitation across much the region. Heavy showers, thunderstorms and severe thunderstorms (hail, gusty winds and tornadoes) are expected along the front. The highest probability of severe thunderstorms will be in Kansas, Oklahoma and North Central Texas. Areas along the front will pick up an inch or more of precipitation and flash flooding is possible in the Central Plains.
South:
Record flooding continues along the lower Mississippi River. With the exception of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas the region will be generally warm and dry.
Northeast:
A front moving out of the Midwest will produce precipitation across the region There is a threat of thunderstorms and severe thunderstorms from the mid-Atlantic to Southern New England.

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Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic / Caribbean / Gulf of Mexico:
A surface low located about 650 miles east-southeast of Bermuda is associated with a mid- to upper-level low pressure system.Â* Shower and thunderstorm activity remains disorganized due to strong upper-level winds and any development of this system should be slow to occur.Â* There is a low chance (20 percent) of this system becoming a subtropical cyclone during the next 48 hours as it moves toward the east or east-southeast at 10 to 15 mph.Â*
Eastern / Central Pacific
There is a weak area of low pressure several hundred miles south-southwest of the Gulf of Tehuantepe.Â* Development of this system, if any, should be slow to occur. The system should not have much movement over the next 48 hours. There is a low chance (10 percent) of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. Elsewhere, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.
Western / South Pacific:Â*
Tropical Storm 04W (Songda) is no threat to U.S. territories.Â*

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Wildfire Update

Monday, May 23, 2011:
National Preparedness Level: 2
Initial attack activity: LIGHT (92 new fires)
New Large Fires: 5
Large Fires Contained: 3
Uncontained Large Fires: 10
Type 1 IMT Committed: 1
Type 2 IMT Committed: 6
States affected: GA, NC, FL, LA, TX, MS, AZ and NM(NIFC)
Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)
Horseshoe Two Fire, AZ (Cochise County)
FMAG -2907 was approved on May 9, 2011 by the Region IX Administrator for a wildfire located 7 miles southwest of Portal, Arizona.Â* The fire has burned 37,500 acres and remains 25% contained with an estimated containment date of June 22, 2011. Seven injuries have been reported.Â* A mandatory evacuation of Cave Creek and a voluntary evacuation for Paradise remain in place as a safety precaution due to burnout operations; 228 structures are being threatened.Â*
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Disaster Declaration Activity

22 Open Field Offices are supporting 32 Major Disaster Declarations and 6 Emergency Declarations.


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