Monday, May 10, 2010

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

Midwest
A HIGH RISK of severe thunderstorms is forecast to for portions of southeastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma this afternoon and evening. Regional tornado outbreak and long-track strong to violent tornadoes are likely in eastern Oklahoma and southeast Kansas late this afternoon and evening. The storm system moving out of the southern Plains and middle Mississippi Valley will bring rain and thunderstorms, with tornadoes possible, into the Great Lakes by Tuesday.
West
Moderate to heavy rain in California and western Oregon with periods of heavy snow, 6-10 inches at higher elevations will spread across the Pacific Northwest and into the central Rockies this morning. A winter storm moving out of the Gulf of Alaska will move south bringing a threat of snow and unseasonably cold temperatures into the Sierras on Monday evening.Â*
SouthÂ*
Generally, the weather will be cool and dry across much of the South. A storm moving out of the Rockies will bring rain and thunderstorms to the southern Plains with severe storms possible Monday evening from central Texas into Missouri as the system moves northward.
NortheastÂ*
Widespread showers and light mountain snow in the northern Appalachians will continue throughout the morning in New England. Colder than average temperatures are expected to continue across the region. Temperatures are expected to drop Monday evening into the 20s and 30s as clear and calm conditions combine with a cold air mass.Â*
Â*(NOAA, National Weather Service, various media sources)Â*
Severe Weather Recovery Mississippi Valley/Southeast:

Recovery continues across the Mississippi Valley and Southeast from strong storms that began late April and continued through early May 2010. The storm system produced record rainfall, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and widespread flooding that resulted in extensive damage in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Rivers and streams in western Tennessee will remain near or above flood stage for the next few days.Â* The Cumberland River in TN is now below flood stage, however, flooding continues on the Ohio River and on lakes and rivers in western Kentucky. Rain and thunderstorms are expected through Tuesday May, 11. Flood warnings remain in effect throughout the area.
Federal Actions
Region IV:
FEMA Region IV RRCC is at Level II (Partial Activation), with ESFs 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, and 15 activated.Â*
FEMA Liaisons are deployed to the state Emergency Operation Centers in Tennessee and Kentucky. An Interim Operating Facility is operating in Nashville at the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) in support of FEMA-1909-DR. Eighteen Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers are now in Tennessee. Joint Field Offices and Area Field Office facilities are being established and additional FEMA staff is on standby to deploy as operations expand. FEMA Logistics in Tennessee include staging areas in Memphis and Nashville. These facilities coordinated the movement of 45 trailer loads of meals and 342 trailer loads of water to state staging areas in Smyra and Lavinia.

Mississippi Canyon 252 Update:

Unified Command / USCG Response:
Current Situation and Operations
The well head in the Gulf of Mexico continues to release 5,000 barrels of oil a day. The boom and skim operations continue with in excess of 1 million feet of boom deployed and more than 3.5 million gallons of oil-water mixture recovered. Efforts to resolve the methane hydrate crystal buildup on the containment dome are so far ineffective. The containment dome will remain on the seabed until efforts to resolve the hydrates are resumed. A second cofferdam is being designed for the same leak site with an estimated completion time of approximately two weeks. All shipping channels/ports are open along the Gulf Coast. Cleaning stations for ships are established offshore and in the Mississippi River to remove oil from hulls. Drilling operations for the relief well remain delayed for routine testing of the riser and blow out preventer.
Subsurface dispersant activities remain suspended pending completion of water sampling, testing and approvals from the Environmental Protection Agency. To date over 325, 000 gallons of surface dispersant have been applied. No in situ burn operations took place over the weekend due to wind conditions. Thirteen staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines: 3 in Alabama, 2 in Florida, 5 in Louisiana and 3 in Mississippi.
Environmental Impacts
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries closed additional recreational and commercial fishing areas on May 9. Oil is confirmed on Chandeleur and Free Mason Islands in wetlands and beaches. Skimmers are deployed to Chandeleur Islands and the Rigolets (an 8 mile long straight in Louisiana). Small tar balls were found on Dauphin Island, Alabama and snare booms were deployed to area. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection reports mainland beaches are open and that no oil landfall is expected within the next 72 hours.Â*(DHS SITREP)Â*
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Sunday May 9, 2010:Â*
There were 25 new light fires reported. No new large fires were reported. Three uncontained large fires remain active in Arizona and Hawaii.Â*(NIFC)Â*
Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)


More...