Wednesday, March 21, 2012

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Important Notice

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Significant National Weather:

West
Showers and mountain snow continue across the northern Intermountain and Northern Rockies.Â* Lows will range from between 10 degrees and the 20s in the Rockies to the 40s and low 50s in the lower elevations of California. One to four inches of rain are expected in western Oregon with additional snow in the Cascades.
Midwest/South
Showers will continue to stay in the Southern Plains as the main band of rain and some thunderstorms head from the Mississippi Valley into the western Great Lakes and Lower Ohio Valley.Â* Temperatures will be 55 to 70 degrees in the Plains and 50 to 64 degrees in the Great Lakes and mid-Mississippi/Ohio Valleys.Â* Rain and thunderstorms will continue to travel along the Texas Panhandle into the Southern eastern portion of the U.S.Â* An additional one to six inches of rain are likely across Arkansas and Louisiana which may produce flash flooding.
Northeast
Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms over the southern Mid-Atlantic.Â* Temperatures will be 15 to 41 degrees above average. (NOAA, National Weather Service and media sources)

Severe Weather Outbreak:

Texas
The National Weather Service has confirmed that two tornadoes (an EF1 & EF2) touched down in Medina County near San Antonio on Monday, March 19.Â* The NWS has also confirmed that an EF2 tornado touched down in Bexar County on Monday.Â* Devine was the area hardest hit in Medina County; media has reported that as many as 50 homes were damaged and five people were injured in Devine.Â* One American Red Cross shelter was open overnight in Devine with 13 occupants. (NSS March 21 Midnight Report)Â* In Bexar County, media reported damage to roofs and numerous power lines down.Â* Thirty-five thousand customers were reported without power at the peak of the outages.Â* Restoration continues; as of 7:00 p.m EDT, less than 3,000 customers were reported without power; complete power restoration is expected March 21.Â* The Texas EOC has not activated; there have been no requests for FEMA assistance.
Louisiana
Possible tornado touch downs in Sabine and Natchitoches parishes were reported to the NWS on March 20.Â* The NWS in Lake Charles, Louisiana reports that 6 to 10 inches of rain have fallen over several parishes in portions of western Louisiana over the past 12 hours; an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour is likely for next several hours.Â* Flash flooding /flooding is expected in many areas; several locations along the Calcasieu, Vermilion and Atchafalaya rivers are at minor or major flood.Â* Numerous roads are closed or impassable in many areas. The Louisiana EOC (GOHSEP) is activated at the Crisis Action Team level.Â* The GOHSEP Operations Section is monitoring the situation and reporting, as needed.
Arkansas
A tornado was reported on March 19 near the towns of Unionville (pop. 390) and Cedarville (pop. 1,133) in Crawford County; no major damage was reported.Â* The Arkansas EOC has reported that straight line winds caused property damage in Morrilton (pop. 6,767) and Midway (pop. 1,064) in Baxter County.Â* The straight line winds have not been confirmed by the NWS.Â* The high winds in Morrilton destroyed two storage buildings at the fairgrounds and damaged at least 25 homes.Â* Several power lines are down throughout Morrilton; 3,000 customers are reported without power; time of restoration is unknown.Â* Twelve mobile homes in a mobile home park in Midway were reported damaged.Â* No injuries have been reported and no shelters are open.Â* The Arkansas EOC is not activated, and there are no requests for FEMA assistance.

River Ice Update as of March 21, 2012

Ice has melted or released on most waterways due to the recent warm spell and an unusually mild winter, reducing the risk of ice jam flooding. There is ice still reported on some rivers in Northern Maine. Lingering ice cover on northern Michigan Rivers should be out by the end of the week. Rises in stages due to snowmelt and ice jamming were seen this past week along the James River in South Dakota, the Peshekee River near Champion, Michigan, and the Missouri River near Williston, North Dakota. On Saturday, a jam on Beavercreek near Dubois, Idaho, caused minor flooding, but was cleared by backhoes.
Space Weather

No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours.Â*Â* No space weather storms are predicted for the next 24 hours. (SWPC)
Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments

Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments are underway in the following states: Louisiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

Oaxaca Region, Mexico
At 2:02 p.m.Â* EDT,Â* on March 20, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred 15 miles east of Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico, 84 miles SSW of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, Mexico and 200 miles SSE of Mexico City.Â* Moderate shaking was reported in Acapulco and Oaxaca.Â* Media is reporting 800 homes damaged/collapsed in town of Iqualapa, state of Guerrero, close to the center of the earthquake (preliminary); additional collapsed homes were reported in Ometepec, 15 miles east of the earthquakeâs epicenter.Â* Minor damages were reported in Mexico City and Oaxaca City.Â* There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or fatalities.Â* There are an unspecified number of minor injuries in Mexico City and the Mexico health system is reported to be operating normally.Â* Water and gas utilities remain intact.Â* Telephone service was disrupted and power outages are reported in parts of Mexico City and the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca & Veracruz. The Mexico City Airport closed briefly but has reopened and is fully operational.Â* The U.S Embassy in Mexico City was evacuated as a precaution; however, only minor damages were reported to the Embassy.Â* The Nuclear Power Plant in Veracruz, Mexico received no damages and remains operational.Â* More than 16 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.0 to 5.3 have been recorded near the epicenter since the magnitude 7.4 earthquake.Â* No tsunami was generated and there are no requests for international assistance from FEMA and none are anticipated. (USGS, FEMA, Media)Â*
Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Disaster Declaration Activity

On March 20, 2012: Amendment No. 5 to FEMA-4057-DR-KY adds Ballard County for Public Assistance and adds Johnson, Kenton, Larue, Pendleton, Trimble, and Wolfe counties for Public Assistance (already designated for Individual Assistance).Â*Â*(FEMA HQ)Â*


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