National Situation Update: Thursday, August 3, 2006
Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).
Tropical Storm Chris Updates - Chris Weakens
At 5:00 am EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Chris was located near latitude 20.3 north longitude 66.4 west or about 315 miles east-southeast of Grand Turk Island and about 135 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Chris is moving toward the west near 13 mph. and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours. On this track the center of Chris will be moving away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands today.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next 24 hours.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the center.
The latest minimum central pressure reported by an air force Reconnaissance plane was 1010 mb (29.83 inches).
Chris is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 3 to 5 inches with isolated totals of 10 inches over the higher elevations of Puerto Rico. Total rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is possible over the Virgin Islands with possible isolated maximum amounts of 6 inches through today. (NWS, National Hurricane Center)
Tropical Storm Chris National and Regional Preparation
FEMA Team Actions for TS Chris
DHS Initial Actions/Intentions (warning/bulletin issuance, press release issuance, IIMG activation, White House notification, etc.):
Region II has deployed an ERT-A to its bunker located in St. Thomas, USVI. This team has established contact/communications with the VI Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) and the senior leadership of the Territorial Government. The team has organized itself along ICS lines, and is pursuing the following activities:
Operations:
Emergency Services met with Territory agency chiefs (police, search and rescue, fire and EMS services) following VITEMA meeting; all express their confidence in readiness for this storm event; main concern deals with mobility (debris in roads) following the storm. Hospital status bed count, St. Thomas one hospital with 165 bed count, 110 beds serviceable by medical staff, daily occupancy rate of 80. St John has a daily medical clinic with 50 beds. St Croix has one hospital with 110 beds.Human Services met with Territorial human services branch chief; shelters are in place for high-risk flood populations; mass care ARC representatives continue to work on preparedness issues, to include those affecting special needs populations.
Infrastructure Support met directly with Physical Plant Manager of the University of the USVI (Mr. C. Martin), who also serves as the Territorial Infrastructure Branch Chief; he stated main concern is two areas of St. Thomas that are high risk for floods. Power outages could be a real concern, with debris removal and heavy equipment being critical. He is continuing to follow-up on preparedness levels. Territory is requesting more sandbags for public works.
Planning submitted Initial Operating Report (IOR), followed by situation report (this document); spot reports will be submitted as required. Reporting schedule will be 5:00 pm EDT (SITREP) and 7:00 am EDT (updates/spotreport).
External Affairs/Congressional Relations made contact with the JIC at the Government House; will be included in all JIC activities. Contacting Congressional reps and providing information packages.
Additional Comments/Considerations:
ERT-A Team Leader Comments: The Region II ERT-A was tailored to meet the immediate needs of the coming tropical storm situation. We have made positive contact with our counter-parts in VITEMA and the Territorial senior leadership (Acting Governor and staff), and have had productive meetings with the Territorial ESFs. Based upon the current expected storm track, the USVI is expected to receive 4-8" of rain from the outer southern bands of this storm (possibility for flash-flooding). The USVI government is taking appropriate precautions for any anticipated impact resulting from flooding or more serious storm effects. All agencies report they are ready for the storm.
Several members of the ERT-A team have been delayed in arriving in St. Thomas due to airline cancellations; we are adjusting responsibilities to meet the objectives for preparation to support the Territory. (FEMA HQ) Region II CAO - no changes from this morning, meeting with PR govt. officials. No shortfalls.
Region IV is active, conference calls with staff and states. Teams on standby.
Region VI is monitoring storm, in contact with Texas.
Louisiana is monitoring storm, and assessing evacuation options.
State of Texas has not requested evacuation assistance, (currently focused on El Paso flooding).
STATE ACTIONS
Florida
Florida Emergency Management is at Level III activation and is monitoring the progress of Tropical Storm Chris.
Florida has placed the North Carolina National Guard Medi-evac C-130 on standby for hospital evacuation from the Keys.
Florida conducted a conference call with the south Florida Counties at 5:15 pm EDT.
Florida will re-evaluate the decision to activate Thursday.
Florida has requested 10 mobile Disaster Recovery Centers with accompanying Information Technology equipment.
Mississippi
Contact has been made with Mississippi on evacuation.
Mississippi has identified the need for 110 buses to assist with the evacuation process, if needed. No request has been received at this time.
Puerto Rico
PRSEMA continues monitoring the weather situation, PRSEMA Director is partially deactivating the state EOC as of 5:00 pm EDT, August 2, 2006. Only Key agencies will remain activated.
The Commonwealth of PR in coordination with PR Port Authority evacuated yesterday approximate 600 tourists from Vieques and Culebra.
Region IV Actions
Conducted conference call with Region IV Senior level staff.
Designated FCO is enroute to Region IV Office in Atlanta.
Contact has been made with the PFO.
An Alert Notification was issued to all Region IV ESFs.
As of 7:00 am EDT, August 2, 2006, the RRCC (Thomasville) has been activated and staffed to Level III Operational status. Hours of operation will be 7:00 am - 7:00 pm EDT.
A conference call on the forecast of the storm has been conducted with the National Hurricane Center and Region IV Senior staff.
Contact has been made with the Florida Emergency Management Director to determine what actions has been or will likely be implemented.
Florida Emergency Management continues to monitor the progress of the storm.
Region IV Liaisons have been placed on standby.
Region IV ERT-A/ERT have been placed on Standby.
Rosters are being developed for the operational period beginning August 2, 2006 and continuing as long as necessary. This includes staffing for the RRCC in Thomasville and Atlanta and staff to support ERT-A operations.
The decision to activate to Level II will be re-evaluated this morning.
ESF 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, NDMS, DOD and the CG have been placed on standby until further notification from the RRCC.
Regions 8, 9 and 10 have been contacted to provide back-up support, if needed.
Contact has been made with the PFO.
The Region IV conference call scheduled for 7:00 am EDT on August 3, 2006 is cancelled.
Region IV staff are contacting Florida, Mississippi and Alabama to identify potential staging areas for US&R and NDMS teams.
Region IV FIRST Team has been placed on Alert. (FEMA Region IV)
Louisiana:
The EOC is not activated; they are monitoring TS Chris.
Texas:
The SOC is monitoring Tropical Storm Chris.
At 12:30 pm EDT, on August 3, 2006 Texas GDEM will commence conference calls with coastal jurisdictions and NWS.
Texas has requested a FEMA State Liaison to report on Monday August 7.
Texas has requested an ERT-A to report on Monday, August 7.
Texas has requested various commodities to be pre-staged.
FEMA Region VI staff continues to monitor Tropical Storm Chris.
Coordination by FEMA Region VI and the States of Louisiana and Texas has begun. This includes the TROs in both States.
Staff will participate in conference calls with the National Hurricane Center, NRCC as required.
FEMA Region VI has notified ESFs. No ESFs have been activated.
Rosters are being reviewed and validated.
The RRCC will activate to Level 3 on Thursday, August 3 at 10:00am EDT.
The Action Planning process will begin on August 3.
Additional commodities are being coordinated for potential shelter populations.
Initial contact with back up region (Region 10) made. (FEMA Region VI)
REGION II FEDERAL ACTIONS:
DHS/FEMA Region II Caribbean Division Office (CDO) is monitoring the weather situation.
PFO have been informed for all CDO current activities. The CDO has FEMA liaisons at PRSEMA.
The ERT-A team from PR has been activated. At this time the CDO has not activated any federal ESFs.
The CDO Director has been in contact with all ESFs.
FEMA CDO Liaisons have participated in several meetings with ESFs and Commonwealth officials at the state EOC.
Logistics: Has a list of 20 potential sites for a JFO. Two containers with MREs arrived in PR for a total of 70,000 stored at the LC in Maunabo. In addition the LC has 3,420 cots and 5,520 blankets.
IT: Two DISC packs containing laptops, satellite and cell phones arrived and will be available Thursday at the CDO. A packet with 30 wireless cards is also expected at the CDO Thursday.
Infrastructure: Conducted a meeting with USACE -ESF3 Representatives.
Human Services: IA has been coordinating with SBA. Human Services has staff available and ready for PDAs. (NWS, PRSEMA)
Rhode Island EOC Mandatory Activation
At 3:53 pm EDT, August 2, 2006, John Aucott at the Rhode Island Emergency Operation Center ( RI EOC) passed the following to DHS State and Local Watch Desk:
By order of the Rhode Island Governor, the RI EOC has been activated, due to area heat wave.
Effective time of activation: 2 August 2006, 3:00 pm EDT. Normal operating hours or 24 hour ops TBD. Duration: TBD
Assistance required: Provide generators due to localized power outages. (FEMA HQ)
R-II Power Problems
Con-Ed reported to Region II that the power company is starting to experience an increase in the rate of "blown transformers" due to the power load, and they anticipate that rate will continue to increase.
The issue is that they are experiencing a delay in getting replacement transformers. The concern is that as additional transformers burn out, that puts an increase load on the power system, and the problem dominos.
R-II is facilitating a conference call with DHS-Private Sector to explore other re-supply options.
Transformers in the Consolidated Edison power grid have been going offline, increasing the load and demand on existing transformers.
The grid was at risk of shutting down (transformers failing in a cascading effect). Awaiting detailed list of effects from Con Ed.
As of 1:30 pm EDT, August 2, 2006, The Con Edison system is in the middle of a heat wave and system loads as of yesterday already exceeded last year's system peak of 13,059 KW. This continuing heat wave is straining the overhead system which has resulted in a large number of overhead transformer failures.
Con Edison is reaching out to neighboring utilities: ABB, Kuhlman, and as far away as Florida for support. However, Con Ed is having difficulty in acquiring sufficient overhead transformers to support our needs.
In the event of a power outage, essential Regional Staff will re-locate to Fort Monmouth. Contacts have been made with NYC Office of Emergency Management.(FEMA Region II)
Adequacy of Electricity Supplies - August 2
The adequacy of electricity supplies was discussed in the August 2, 2006 11:15 am EDT Electricity Briefing. Participants included representatives from NERC/ES-ISAC, DOE, FERC, and DHS.
Summary: Temperatures (see forecast maximum temperatures on map below) and electricity loads continue to rise in the East, but electric grid operators were not expecting significant problems serving those loads. Loads in the Mid-West are moderating slightly.
Northeast: ISO-NE projects peak loads of 28,490 MW, well above Tuesday's peak load of 27,401 MW. The projected reserve margin today is a negative 559 MW. ISO-NE plans to make up this deficiency through implementation of their Emergency Operations Procedures. ISO-NE implemented OP-4 step 1 at 9:00 this morning and expects to implement steps 2 through 10 at around noon to increase power availability of power and reduce demand. These measures correspond to a Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert. Steps beyond step 10 are possible, but not planned at this time.
Mid-Atlantic: The NYISO website is showing a peak hour load of 34,600 MW, well above Tuesday's all time peak load of 33,879 MW. NYISO lists their excess capacity as a positive of 3,171 MW. Consolidated Edison has also requested conservation by its customers in New York City where loads have grown to the extent that old electrical distribution equipment is being overloaded and experience some damage leading to power outages for some customers. PJM set a new all time record peak demand Tuesday of 144,000 MW. PJM has declared a Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert for their Eastern regions and have requested voluntary conservation of electricity in anticipation of continued high loads. PJM is not anticipating a record load due to moderating temperatures in their Western regions, but high loads in the East will stress their East/West transmission capability.
Mid-west: MISO has declared a Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert for their Eastern regions. Loads are forecast to be below Tuesday's levels.
West: Temperatures have moderated and electricity supplies are expected to be adequate all week.
Southeast: While temperatures are expected to be high this week, the region should have adequate generation.
Southwest: No problems are anticipated.
Canada: IESO, the operator of the electric grid in Ontario, has declared a Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert and has asked electricity consumers to reduce electricity consumption between noon and 6:00 pm EDT, August 2, 2006. Strong storms have damaged electric distribution facilities in Quebec leading to nearly 300,000 customer outages. (FEMA Region II, NWS, NICC)
El Paso County, Texas Flooding
The weather system that has brought rainfall to El Paso and surrounding counties continues to deliver significant rainfall to areas previously saturated by three days of heavy rains, leading to incidents of flooding across the City of El Paso and outlying areas. Several water rescues have been conducted by local authorities.
The Texas Department of Public Safety Disaster District Committee (DDC) for El Paso and the El Paso Emergency Operations Center (EOC) have been activated. Local and State agencies have been activated.
As a pre-cautionary measure the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office is conducting evacuations along areas of the Rio Grande River in preparation for possible river flooding.
The system is forecasted to move out of the area by Wednesday night, however chance for additional rain will continue throughout the week. (FEMA Region VI)
Arizona Flooding
The Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) estimates 5 to 7 inches of rainfall occurred in the affected areas since Thursday, July 27.
Impact is concentrated in the southern counties of Pinal, Pima and Gila, which have each proclaimed emergencies, as have the Tribal governments of the Tohono O'Odham and San Carlos Apache Nations.
Graham County is considering a local proclamation and Cochise and Navajo Counties have also sustained damages. Federal infrastructure and roadway damage is reported in the Coronado National Forest within Cochise County.
No State request for a joint Federal-State damage assessment has been received to date. (FEMA Region IX)
UT Severe Storm and Flooding
STATE/LOCAL RESPONSE
Salt Lake County: The County experienced backed up storm drains. Public works and fire crews are addressing clean up of down tree branches. Two residences are reported to have collapsed roofs. The County reports 25,000 residents were initially without power. Power is out in several commercial buildings. Intersection streetlights are out impacting traffic flow. The power outage is sporadic; some homes appear to have power even though streetlights are not operable. Power utilities continue to address power outages throughout the area. They anticipate it will take most of August 2 to get power back on to customers. Many homes have taken on some water in the basement. Large conifer trees have been uprooted and the streets are scattered with tree branches from various types of trees. Neighborhoods are taking charge and beginning self-cleanup. Wind and storm water flood damage is reported in Taylorsville and West Valley City.
Summit County: The County reported surface flooding on the Toll Gate Canyon Road at mile marker 150.
Utah County: The County reported damage to airport hangers and a number of airplanes flipped over due to high winds.
State: The Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS), Division of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Emergency Services OES) Operations staff and Liaison Officers continue to monitor the situation and continues to work with local emergency.
Region VIII is monitoring the situation and coordinating with UT OES as necessary. There has been no request for federal assistance at this time. (FEMA Region VIII, UT OES, NWS)
Tropical Activity
Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea:
There is no significant activity other than Tropical Storm Chris.
Eastern Pacific:
There is no significant activity. Both Fabio and Gilma have been downgraded to Tropical Depressions and are no threat to any United States territory or posession.
Western Pacific:
There is no threat to anu United States territory or posession. (USDOC/NOAA/NWS, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)
Earthquake Activity
At 11:08 pm EDT, August 2, an earthquake with preliminary magnitude 4.2 occurred 65 miles southwest of Sacramento, California.
There was no damage or injuries reported.
The magnitude is such that a tsunami will not be generated. (United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program, NOAA/NWS/West Coast-Alaska Tsunami Warning Center)
Preliminary Damage Assessments
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update
National preparedness level - 5
Initial attack activity was light nationally with 174 new fires reported. Seven new large fires were reported, two each in the Northern Rockies, and Southern Areas, and one each in the Northern California, Rocky Mountain, and Southern California Areas.
Ten large fires were contained, three in the Southern Area, two each in the Northern California, and Rocky Mountain Areas, and one each in the Western Great Basin, Northern Rockies and Eastern Great Basin Areas.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Critical resource needs:Dispatchers
Aviation management
Business support personnel
Type 1 and 2 Helicopters
Type 1 and 2 IMTs
Outlook:
A drier westerly flow covers much of the West while high pressure continues over the East. Winds will be diminishing over Texas and Oklahoma.
Major Evacuations/Structures Threatened:
There are currently 46 large fires reported on the Situation Report, of these 12 are still posing a significant threat to structures and other improvements. The remaining fires have either mitigated the structure threat or are in remote areas not currently a threat to improvements. There was minimal growth on all large fires yesterday with most making good progress towards containment.
Northwest Area:
An Area Command Team is assigned to manage large fires in Washington.
Black Crater, Deschutes National Forest. Type 1 incident Management Team is assigned. A Unified Command between the Type 1 Team and the Oregon Department of Forestry is in place. This fire is seven miles southwest of Sisters, OR. Evacuations remain in place for two communities. Evacuations for Tollgate, Crossroads, and Edington subdivisions were lifted. Short runs and torching from burn out and active interior burning along with individual tree torching were observed. (9,200 Acres, 40% containment)
Maxwell, Ochoco National Forest. A Washington State Interagency Type 2 Incident Management Team is assigned. This fire is six miles south of Mitchell, OR. A residence, Communications equipment and the water supply for the city of Mitchell are threatened. Steep terrain and limited access are hampering containment efforts. Minimal fire activity was reported. (5,242 Acres 45% containment)
Northern California Area:
An Area Command is assigned to manage large fires within the Geographic Area.
Orleans Complex, Six Rivers National Forest. A Type 2 incident Management Team is assigned. The Orleans complex, comprised of the Somes, Crawford, Buck and Hancock fires, is four miles southwest of Orleans, CA. The community of Orleans, a communications site, Native American cultural and spiritual sites, fisheries and a municipal water supply are threatened. Limited road access, steep terrain and snags are hampering containment efforts. Upslope runs and spotting were observed on some fires. (3,450 Acres, 5% containment)
Uncles Complex, Klamath National Forest. A Type 2 Incident Management Team is assigned. This complex, comprised of the Uncles, Rock, and Hancock fires, is 18 miles northwest of Orleans, CA. Residences, outbuildings and wildlife habitat remain threatened. Steep terrain, difficult access and poor visibility due to an inversion are hampering containment efforts. Short runs and minimal torching were observed. (6,450 Acres, 10% containment)
Hunter, Mendocino National Forest. A Type 2 Incident Management Team is assigned. This fire is 19 miles southeast of Covelo, CA. Spotting owl, fisheries and structures remain threatened. Backing fire and short uphill runs were observed. (4,805 Acres, 5% containment)
Bar Complex, Shasta Trinity National Forest. A Type 1 incident management Team is assigned. This complex, comprised of the Little, Bake and Oven fires, is located 40 miles northwest of Redding, CA. Numerous residences, outbuildings, power lines, municipal watershed and wildlife habitat are threatened. Difficult access is hampering containment efforts. Backing fire and torching in heavy fuels was observed. (6,644 Acres, 10% containment)
Kingsley Complex, Mendocino National Forest. A Type 1 Incident management Team is assigned. This complex is 38 miles southwest of Red Bluff, CA. The team is also managing a portion of the Hunter Fire. Numerous residences are threatened and evacuation orders remain in place for several communities. Steep terrain and difficulty access continue to impede containment efforts. Several evacuation orders remain in place and Forest Highway 7 remains closed at Alder Junction. Isolated torching was observed. (4,425 Acres, 20% containment)
Western Great Basin Area:
Winters, Winnemucca Field Office, Bureau of Land Management. A Type 2 incident Management Team is assigned. This fire is ten miles northwest of Midas, NV. The towns of Tuscarora, ranches, a repeater and mining operations remain threatened. No significant fire spread was observed. (238,458 Acres, 79% containment)
Northern Rockies:
Bearmouth, Department of Natural Resources & Conservation, Southwestern Land Office. A Type 2 incident management Team has been ordered. This fire is 10 miles east of Drummond, MT. Residences, power lines and a pipeline are threatened. No further information was received. (1,200 Acres, Containment not reported)
Red Eagle, Glacier National Park. A Type 1 Incident Management Team is assigned. The fire is one mile southwest of St. Mary, MT. Structure protection for Glacier National Park Visitor Center, park residences and community of St. Mary is in place. Smoldering, creeping, torching and short fire runs were observed. (25,000 Acres, 20% containment)
Big Creek, Central Land Office, Montana Department of natural Resources and Conservation. A Type 2 incident Management Team is assigned. The fire started on private land 29 miles southwest of Livingston, MT. Numerous residences remain threatened. The north side of the fire remains active. (12,000 Acres, 20% containment)
Gash Creek, Bitterroot National Forest. A Type 2 Incident Management Team is assigned. This fire is six miles south of Victor, MT. Numerous residences are threatened and a limited evacuation remains in effect. Rough terrain and difficult access continue to hamper containment efforts. Backing fire, group torching and spotting were observed. (2,400 Acres, 40% containment) (NIFC)
Disaster Declaration Activity
FEMA-1655-DR-VA was amended on August 2, 2006 to provide Public assistance to Mecklenburg and Rappahannock Counties. (FEMA HQ)
Last Modified: Thursday, 03-Aug-2006 08:09:55 EDT