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National Situation Update: Friday, November 4, 2005

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Snow and Rain Continues in the Northwest

West: Newly developing cold fronts will continue to move into the Pacific Northwest and Northern California during the upcoming week bringing rain, heavy mountain snows, and high winds.

Midwest: A cold front will continue to bring rainy and windy weather to the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Friday especially in North Dakota and Minnesota. The remainder of the region will experience unseasonably mild weather. Highs in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys will be in the 70s.

Northeast: Mild weather in the Northeast is forecast to continue on Friday, however a storm system is organizing in the Ohio Valley that will bring some rainy and windy weather to the Appalachian Mountains this weekend. Highs are expected to range from the 40s in northern Maine to the 70s in the Mid-Atlantic area.

South: The region will continue to have warm temperatures and sunny weather on Friday and into the weekend. Highs will be mostly in the 70s and 80s. Nice weather will continue through Sunday, although parts of the Tennessee Valley may see some rain. (NWS, Media sources)

Unprecedented Recovery of Electric Service in Florida

Florida State officials and representatives from Florida Power & Light (FP&L) indicate progress towards restoration of electric power in the hard hit areas of southern Florida that were devastated by Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005. An estimated 6,000,000 customers lost power when Wilma hit the area with 125 mile per hour winds that created flying debris that damaged or destroyed utility sub-stations. Florida Power & Light, which provides electricity for almost all of south Florida, indicated that Wilma affected more of its customers than any other natural disaster in FPL’s history. On the day after Wilma struck south Florida, one in three Florida residents were without power.

During the past 10 days, FPL has assembled nearly 18,000 utility workers from 33 states and Canada to restore damaged sub-stations and other utility infrastructure. FPL indicates this is the largest workforce ever organized in the company’s history.

FPL has provided the following estimated dates for full restoration of the remaining 456,800 outages (as of 9:00 pm EST November 3):

FPL indicated that Wilma did more damage to sub-stations than any of last year’s hurricanes. Utility workers concentrated on restoring power to essential services. Top priority went to hospitals, police and fire stations, essential commercial businesses, and traffic lights. (Florida Power & Light, Florida State Emergency Operations Center, media sources)

Tropical Activity

There are no tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Eastern Pacific or Central Pacific Ocean.(NHC/TPC, Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

No significant activity. (USDOI/USGS, National Earthquake Information Center)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

Connecticut - Individual and Public Assistance PDAs for 4 counties that began on October 25, 2005, are continuing.

Maine – Public Assistance PDAs in 4 counties have been completed.

New York – Individual Assistance and Public Assistance PDAs for 2 counties began on October 31, 2005.

Rhode Island – Individual Assistance and Public Assistance PDAs in 5 counties have been completed. (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity. (FEMA HQ)