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National Situation Update: Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

South: Southern Florida, still recovering from Wilma, will see widespread downpours and thunderstorms. A second system will bring lesser amounts of rain to the Deep South and into Tennessee.

West: Storms will hit the Northwest. Rainfall will be widespread reaching southward into northwest California and eastward into western Montana. The heaviest rain will be in Washington and western Oregon. Heavy snow will fall in the southern Washington and northern Oregon Cascades above the 5000 to 7000 feet range.

Northeast: Seasonal scattered showers and gusty winds are predicted.

Midwest: A Pacific cold front leaving the Midwest will push scattered showers out of Ohio, southern Indiana and Kentucky during the day. Light showers will fall over northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan.(NWS, Media sources)

Florida Power and Light Hit Hard by Seven Hurricanes

Florida Power & Light (FPL) reports Wilma is the most disruptive storm to ever hit with more than 800,000 of the utility's customers still lacking electricity seven days after the storm struck. The Company warned that some homes and businesses in the three hardest hit counties could be without electricity until mid-November, leaving as many as 162,000 customers in the dark heading toward the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wilma was the seventh major tropical storm to hit FPL's service territory in the past 14 months, with three hurricanes descending on southern Florida this summer alone. Hurricane Rita clipped FPL's service territory in September, leaving 126,000 customers without power. Hurricane Katrina, in late August, was far more severe, knocking out service to 1.45 million customers.

But Hurricane Wilma, with over twice that many outages, proved the most devastating, damaging 241 substations and playing havoc with the high-voltage transmission system and neighborhood distribution lines.

FPL is still struggling to put a price tag on the storms and come up with a plan to cover the cost. The utility's storm fund was already in a $534 million deficit at the end of 2004, prompting FPL to ask state utility regulators to approve a storm surcharge on customer bills to cover the cost of four hurricanes that year.

Company officials said that the relentless series of hurricanes belting south Florida over the past two summers has drained its storm fund and forced it to seek higher rates. There is an alternative to hiking rates, however. Florida Governor Bush has pushed through special legislation that opens bonds as an alternative way for the state's hard-pressed utilities to raise funds. (Media Sources)

Wildfire Update

The National Preparedness Level is 2 (on a scale of 1 - 5).

Initial attack activity was light nationally with 39 fires reported. No new large fires were reported. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in California.

The National Interagency Fire Center has issued their last Daily Situation Report for the year. (National Interagency Fire Center)

Tropical Activity

Cloudiness and showers continue in association with a tropical wave over portions of the eastern and central Caribbean Sea and the adjacent land areas but upper-level winds are not favorable for tropical cyclone formation.

The remnants of Atlantic Tropical Depression Beta are located about 150 miles south of El Salvador. There are no signs of redevelopment. (NHC/TPC, Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity. (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity.(FEMA HQ)