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National Situation Update: Friday, April 28, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

The Central U.S. Turns Active

South:  An upper-level, low-pressure area from out of the Southwest will join forces with another system to create a sprawling storm over the central U.S. this weekend. Heavy rain and thunderstorms will gradually work their way eastward from Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern States over the next 3 days. The downpours will target Oklahoma and the northern and central parts of Texas today and some locations in the vicinity of the Red River could pick up as much as 4 inches of rain by nightfall. Severe thunderstorms across western and central Texas plus southern Oklahoma could produce large hail, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes.

Midwest:  Much of the Plains and then the Midwest will turn quite wet as a big storm takes shape over the Heartland and then only creeps eastward this weekend.  Showery rain and thunderstorms will fall across the Plains and advance into the Mississippi Valley. Heavy inch-plus rain is possible from parts of Minnesota to eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Some spots in the lower Missouri Valley could see up to 3 inches of rain.

West:  Showers will linger in parts of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico with high temperatures 5 to 15 degrees below average as the Southwest closed low heads into the southern Plains. A weak front moving through the Northwest will pop only a few showers or thunderstorms.

Northeast:  The Northeast will have great weather (partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies) right through Sunday.  (NWS, Media Sources)

Updated Flash Report: Executive Summary 2006 Spring Storm April 27, 2006

There are no California EOCs open for the 2006 Spring Storms event.  The State Operations Center (SOC) is on duty officer status.  The Department of Water Resources (DWR) Flood Operations Center (FOC) is operating  0630 to 1700 Monday through Friday.  The OES Recovery Branch in partnership with FEMA is conducting Preliminary Damage Assessments with local agencies this week.

The FOC is still open.  DWR is still working on minor field projects.  Official demobilization of the FOC from the DWR Director is expected later this week.

Yesterday OES received a local proclamation of emergency from Kings County requesting a Governor's Proclamation for "wind, rain, hail, frost and below normal temperatures, which caused damage to Kings County crops beginning on December 28, 2005, and continuing to present."  However, a Governor's Proclamation is not necessary for the county to be eligible for assistance from the US Department of Agriculture under the Federal Emergency Agricultural Disaster Act of 2006 or for assistance under the Small Business Administration (SBA).  The County requested no other assistance.

FEMA/OES Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) for Public Assistance and Individual Assistance Programs have been conducted for the following 15 counties: Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Lake, Madera, Marin, Placer, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Tulare.  Final damage estimates are still pending with the OES Recovery Branch.  (HSOC.State&Local Desk)

After Fires, Corps Pledges To Speed Pump Repairs

Following three fires that cast further doubt over the reliability of the city's drainage system, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pledged Thursday to accelerate its plans to overhaul dozens of flood-damaged pumps, a top city Sewerage and Water Board Official said.

A Corps spokesman confirmed the federal agency is trying to accelerate work on pumps, but said it was too early to provide a specific timeline. Previously, Corps officials had said they do not expect pump repairs to be complete until late in the 2007 hurricane season.

After Hurricane Katrina, the Corps pledged to spend about $36.9 million to repair 61 pumps that were submerged in salt water when levee breaks allowed rising water in Lake Pontchartrain to spill into nearly 80 percent of the city.

That work has not begun, except in cases where the cash-strapped Sewerage and Water Board, which for several months was having trouble even paying its electric bills, bid emergency contracts to fix pumps that have caught fire since being put back in use after Katrina.

Submerged pumps were dried out, cleaned and put back into service after the storm. At least five have caught fire since, apparently because insulation around often decades-old copper wiring was compromised by the salt water flooding, Sewerage and Water Board officials said after three pumps caught fire during a rain storm Wednesday.

Using dried out pumps was the only short-term option because pumps must be taken off-line to be overhauled, meaning only a few around the city could be fixed at any one time. The water board wants to move as quickly as possible to fix all pumps and would not wait for the Corps if it didn't need help to pay for it.

About 1.5 inches of rain fell in the city Wednesday, the first significant rainfall in months in New Orleans. Southern Louisiana has been in drought conditions for about a year, with minimal rain other than when hurricanes Katrina and Rita came ashore in the state late last summer.

People in low-lying neighborhoods are concerned about pump reliability, given the fires, and what they view as the Corps' slow pace of repairs, as well as certain levee projects that may actually impede drainage.  Most of the Corps' work since Katrina has been focused on repairing levees, which protect against storm surge, or rising sea levels that occur when large storms push up from the Gulf of Mexico.  (Media Sources)

Sand Fire

A wildfire that charred 1,268 acres about 30 miles southwest of Winslow was fully contained by Thursday night, authorities said. A spokeswoman for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest said the Sand Fire was expected to be fully controlled by Sunday afternoon. The fire, which began last Saturday morning, was caused by humans and authorities were still investigating. The blaze burned ponderosa and pinyon pine trees in rugged terrain but did not threaten any homes or buildings.  (Media Sources)

New Mexico Fire Restrictions

Bandelier National Monument implemented fire restrictions Thursday because of persistent dry and windy conditions, while the Carson National Forest imposed tougher rules in an effort to prevent human-caused fires. Smoking will be limited to developed areas at Bandelier, and campfires will be permitted only within designated fire grates in the park's two campgrounds.

Officials with the Carson forest had imposed restrictions earlier this year but announced Thursday that additional restrictions would go into effect Monday morning. The more stringent rules prohibit campfires and limit smoking to an enclosed vehicle or building. The forest has also suspended permit sales for wood gathering until further notice. Monday is the traditional start of the wood gathering season on the Carson, so forest officials plan to look at alternatives to help surrounding communities with their wood needs.

Meanwhile, firefighters in opposite corners of the state were busy Thursday. A state Forestry Division spokesman said a fire that charred an estimated 75 acres near Cimarron was contained by the evening, but crews had to deal with strong winds as they battled the flames. The fire was believed to have been sparked by lighting.

Near Silver City, a 20-acre blaze initially threatened some mobile homes but firefighters were able to protect the structures. The fire had stopped growing by the evening and the threat was over.  The positive is there's a little bit of moisture in the air.  (Media Sources)

Malaysia Plans To Dedicate Separate Cell Phone Frequency To Warn Of Tsunami

Malaysia wants to set aside a separate mobile phone frequency to be used for emergency text messages to warn of an impending tsunami, a government minister said Thursday.  The government plans to disseminate tsunami warnings through TV broadcasts, and is in talks with telcos to dedicate a separate frequency for emergency cell phone messaging, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis said.  He said the government is also negotiating with Muslim religious leaders to use public address systems in village mosques to alert citizens.

Malaysia has positioned two buoys _ one in Indonesian waters near the island of Sumatra and another in the South China Sea between mainland Malaysia and Borneo island _ to give at least an hour's warning to locals of any approaching tsunami.  The administration is also in talks with the Philippines to deploy a third pre-emptive warning buoy in the Sulu Sea between the two Southeast Asian nations.

A massive Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing at least 216,000 people in 12 countries _ three-quarters of them in Aceh province on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.  Sixty-eight people were killed in Malaysia. Hundreds of fishermen and businesses operating along the coastal areas in the northern island of Penang and the resort island of Langkawi suffered losses estimated in the millions of dollars.  (Media Sources)

Florida Brush Fire Closes Highway

Authorities shut down northbound and southbound lanes along Interstate 95 in Brevard County Thursday after a brush fire jumped across the highway. The Florida Highway Patrol closed the interstate from State Road 528 to Port St. Johns Blvd. around 5:43 p.m..  There are homes near the fire, but none had been evacuated.  (Media Sources)

Tropical Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

Wednesday, April 27, 2006, National Preparedness Level 2
Current Situation: Initial attack activity was moderate nationally with 141 new fires reported. Two large fires were contained, one each in the Southern and Southwest Areas. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Red Flag Warning: In effect for Northern Florida for afternoon humidity near 35%.

Fire Weather Watches: Southeastern Arizona, southern into south-central New Mexico for strong winds and low humidity.

OUTLOOK: An upper level low pressure system will move across southern California and into the Southwest today. Strong winds in combination with dry conditions will exist out ahead of this system for portions of mainly southeastern Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. Further north, another storm system will create windy and dry conditions for the Northern Rockies into the northern Plains. Elsewhere, much of the central and eastern portion of the country will remain dry under a large high pressure system.    (NIFC, NICC)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)