National Situation Update: Friday, August 4, 2006
Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).
El Paso Flooding/Mexican Dam Failure
Background:
Shortly after 2:00 pm EDT, August 3, 2006, the City of Juarez notified the City of El Paso that a dam safety emergency was occurring in Juarez at the Montada Dique (Dike -- see Dam Details below). This coordination was required because of potential for further uncontrolled release of water into the Rio Grande which could cause flooding in El Paso, TX.
The El Paso Mayor's Office contacted USACE dam safety personnel (who were conducting dam safety inspections in El Paso), and requested Technical Assistance to help with evaluating the threat to El Paso associated with the present dam condition.
Overtopping (twice in the past few days) of the La Montada Dique is associated with significant rainfall over west TX/northern Mexico from July 31 to August 3, 2006. The downstream face of this dam was eroded 2-3 feet during the overtopping.
In response to a request by the City of Juarez and the International Boundaries Water Commission (IBWC), USACE employees joined a team that observed the conditions. The team entered Mexico around 4:00 pm EDT and returned to El Paso, Texas by 6:00 pm EDT. The team was escorted by City of Juarez officials.
Details on the Dam:
Name: La Montada Dique
Location: West side of Juarez, approx 1 mile from downtown.
Geography: Significant elevation drop from the dam site to the Rio Grande which is located 1 mile down stream. The city of El Paso is located directly across the Rio Grande from this confluence.
Construction: Earth embankment (fine grain materials)
Outlet Works: NONE
Spillway: NONE
Height and Height of Abutments: Approximately 100 Feet
Crown Width: 20 feet
Length: 500 feet
Side Slopes: Approximately 1V on 2H
Volume: Reported to be 250,000 Cubic Meters by on site personnel (about 200 acre-ft)
Situation Update (as of 2:20 am EDT, August 4, 2006):
NOC reached out to El Paso Fire Department (FD's) Deputy Chief at the EOC at approximately 2:20 am EDT. The City has liaisons at the dam. The following information was provided.
Approximately 200K cubic meters remain behind the dam; this is an estimated 2/3 of highest level. Water is being pumped down at 1-2 feet an hour. If pumped down to 100K cubic/meters this will still be a threat as water is seeping from numerous areas. A second drainage area is being cleared which will facilitate pumping water.
2517 people have been evacuated representing 1/3 of residents potentially in the flood area. 2/3 of resident have elected to stay. There is not a mandatory evacuation at this time, but that is being continuously evaluated based on the weather conditions.
The city is bracing for bad weather. NOAA forecasts a 20%-40% chance of heavy rains through Friday night.
National Guard (NG) had assisted with providing 37 vehicles for evacuations of residents. Currently, (at this time of night) there is no need for those assets as people are not electing to evacuate. NG could provide same support if the dam breaches. A high rise of elderly were recently evacuated with 455 individuals.
Should the dam breach the City predicts no more than 3 feet of flood waters in the downtown area. Heavy vehicles such as NGs and FDs should provide sufficient search and rescue (SAR) capabilities. FD does not believe air SAR support would be necessary or feasible. (DHS NOC, USACE, ESF-6, )
Tropical Storm Chris
At 5:00 am EDT the center of Tropical Storm Chris was located near latitude 20.9 north longitude 70.9 west or about 45 miles south-southeast of Grand Turk Island.
Chris is moving toward the west near 15 mph and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours.
Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph with higher gusts. No significant change in strength is forecast during the next 24 hours.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles to the east of the center.
Minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force reconnaissance aircraft was 1012 mb (29.88 inches).
Chris is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches across the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos, the southeast Bahamas, Haiti and eastern Cuba with isolated totals of up to 6 inches over the higher terrain through today. (NWS, NHC)
NRCC/NHC/Region Conference Call Minutes TS Chris
August 3, 2006 5:30 pm EDT
Region IV
Florida
Region IV RRCC remains operational at Level 3, no shortfalls or limiting factors reported.
Florida Emergency Management continues at Level III activation and is monitoring the progress of Tropical Storm Chris.
Florida Emergency Management conducted conference calls with the south Florida Counties at 5:15 pm EDT.
A request has for 10 mobile Disaster Recovery Centers with accompanying Information Technology equipment for the Florida Long Term Recovery Office has been withdrawn.
FEMA NRCC
ESFs present and participating in meeting-appreciate continued team effort.
FIRST Teams have been placed on Alert.
Continue Level 2, 24/7 operation.
Region VI
Texas
TX is continuing to monitor storm.
No change in State status. Region VI RRCC remains operational at Level 3, no shortfalls or limiting factors reported.
Region IV RRCC Actions
The RRCC (Thomasville) remains activated and staffed at Level III operational status.
Hours of operation are 7:00 am EDT to 7:00 pm EDT.
The decision to activate to Level II (Atlanta RRCC) will be event driven.
Region IV Liaisons have been placed on standby.
Region IV Teams have been placed on standby.
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 is being maintained with the Florida Emergency Management.
Rosters are being developed for the operational period beginning at 7:00 am EDT, August 4, 2006 and continuing. This includes staffing for the RRCC in Thomasville, Atlanta and staff to support ERT-A operations. (FEMA NRCC, FEMA Region IV)
Region VI Status Briefing
August 3, 2006, 6:00 pm EDT
State Status:
Louisiana: The EOC is not activated; they will decide 0800 tomorrow (Friday) whether to activate.
Texas: The SOC, activated at a Level 1 (Emergency Conditions), continues to monitor Tropical Storm Chris. (The SOC is at Level 1 due to Border Operations, NOT Tropical Storm Chris).Texas continues to plan for a "worst case" scenario.
Texas GDEM is conducting a daily conference call with coastal jurisdictions, state and federal agencies, and private sector partners.
Texas Military Forces have been alerted and are prepared to support evacuations if required.
Texas has requested various commodities to be pre-staged.
Federal Status:
FEMA Region VI is in coordination with the States of Louisiana and Texas through conference calls. This includes the TROs in both States.
Additional commodities are being coordinated for potential shelter populations.
FEMA Region VI has notified ESFs. No ESFs have been activated.
Back-up Regions have situational awareness.
The RRCC activated to Level 3 as of August 3 at 10:00 am EDT.
RRCC hours of operation are 9:00 am to 9:00 pm EDT. (FEMA Region VI)
Urgent Situation (Spot) Reports
DHS FEMA Region II, August 3, 2006, 3:00 pm EDT
New York City Power Failures
Transformers in the Consolidated Edison power grid have been going offline, increasing the load and demand on existing transformers. Power consumption has not peaked yet for today. Contractors for Con Ed are having trouble replacing transformers. The grid is at risk of shutting down (transformers failing in a cascading effect). This is an evolving event, building upon both this week's failures as well as the extensive damages experienced on July 18, 2006.
One death is being investigated in Brooklyn. 2,500 Customers are without power, primarily in Brooklyn and Queens. Eastern Manhattan is at great risk of loss of power. Two feeder cables have been repaired, but two remain out of service. All NYC boroughs are being affected. 289 Elevators in 228 buildings are being affected by the current low-power situation.
In the event of a power outage to the Regional Office, essential Regional Staff will re-locate to Fort Monmouth. Contacts have been made with NYC Office of Emergency Management. We are jointly monitoring. (FEMA Region II)
NOAA Update on the Heat Wave, Thursday August 3
Thursday was another sweltering day along the Eastern Seaboard, from the New York metro area south through the Washington DC area and into the Carolinas.
The press reports that since Sunday, heat was confirmed to have played a role in at least 14 deaths in the Midwest and East, plus one in Oklahoma. At least four of the heat-related deaths were in Maryland, one in Harford County and three in Baltimore. The four persons ranged in age from 73 to 90.
Utilities reported record or near-record demand again Thursday, with just scattered power outages.
A cold front slowly dropping south through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York state Thursday afternoon will pass through Philadelphia and Washington DC Friday and take the edge off the temperatures.
However, Heat Advisories and a few Excessive Heat Warnings remain in effect for Friday along the eastern seaboard from south and east of the Washington DC area south into Georgia.
As the front continues to the south Friday night, temperatures in the Washington DC area over the upcoming weekend (and into early next week) are expected to be back near normal, in the mid to upper 80s. (NOAA)
Wilson Lock and Dam Closure, Florence, AL
August 3, 2006, 10:59 am EDT
A barge loaded with xylene collided with and was trapped under the upper gate of the Wilson Lock and Dam on the Tennessee River in Florence, AL. Damage from the collision forced officials to close the main lock. An auxiliary lock is available, but due to its smaller size, using it will cause traffic bottlenecks. Officials issued a ½ mile evacuation as a precaution in case the trapped barge develops a leak. Officials report a hotel is the only facility impacted by the evacuation. Alabama State Highway 133, which crosses the dam, is also closed as part of the evacuation. Average daily traffic across the dam is 10,910 vehicles.
Officials estimate the lock will be closed several weeks to a month while it is repaired. A floating crane is enroute to remove the damaged gate. Water levels are equalized, and removal should be completed today. A caisson is also expected to arrive today. The caisson has been used in the past for locking operations, and officials are determining if it can be used to restore service at a reduced capacity during the repair period. One tow boat with 2 barges is waiting to traverse the lock once the evacuation order is lifted, but more traffic will arrive during the day.
In 2005, approximately 10.9 million tons of cargo transited the Wilson Lock; 6,698 loaded and 4,790 empty barges used the lock that year. Approximately 6.3 million tons have transited the lock to date in 2006. Major cargos shipped through the lock include stone, sand, gravel, coal, coke, grains, and chemicals. The lock is also used by recreational boaters.
Impacted Sectors:
Maritime: River traffic transiting the lock will experience delays.
Dams: Lock will require repair.
Highway: State Highway 133 crossing the dam closed to traffic, detour available.
Chemical and Hazardous Materials: Barge loaded with xylene may develop leak, 1/2 mile precautionary evacuation ordered.
Location: Florence, AL Population: 36,480
Reported Cause of the Incident or Event: The caller stated that a barge coming into a chamber was caught underneath the upper gate of a lock on the dam.
Coordination Points: Ralph Ownby, USACE (National Infrastructure Coordination Center (NICC))
National Electrical Power Status during Extreme Heat Period of July/August 2006
Temperatures and electricity loads are forecasted to moderate slightly from West to East today. Loads will remain high along the East coast from Southern New England through the Carolinas.
Generation and Transmission status:
As of 11:00 am EDT, 3 August 2006, only PJM had issued a Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert and this was only for their Southeastern area. A breakdown of status by area and the Energy Emergency Alert Levels are presented below:
Northeast: ISO-NE projects a peak load of 27,620 MW today, below yesterday's record peak load of 28,021 MW. While the forecast load is still very high, ISO-NE is expecting to be able to serve all load today.
Mid-Atlantic: The NYISO set a record peak load yesterday of 33,939 MW. They are forecasting a load of 32,900 MW for today. Temperatures and loads should diminish today up-state but will remain near record levels down-state. ConEd, serving the New York City area, had a record load of 13,141 yesterday. Scattered outages were reported yesterday in New York City due to heat and load stresses on the City's aging electric system. PJM is forecasting today's load to be more than 4,000 MWs below a new all time record peak set yesterday. PJM has declared a Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert for their Southeastern regions.
Mid-west: As of 9:00 last night, MISO dropped all emergency operations measures. Loads are forecast to be manageable today.
West: No problems anticipated.
Southeast: While temperatures are expected to be high today, the region should have adequate generation.
Southwest: No problems are anticipated.
Canada: No problems are anticipated.
Electrical Power Distribution:
Distribution is primarily the delivery of electrical power from substations to customers. There has not been any new significant distribution outage (greater than 50,000 customers) at the time of this report. Distribution outages will typically be the result of damage to equipment and/or equipment failures within the distribution system. Outages have occurred in Canada due to thunder storms and in New York due to distribution failures. Violent storms hit Ontario Wednesday night resulting in 150,000 customer outages. (NICC)
Electrical Power Outages in MA
August 2, 2006, approximately 90,000 electrical power customers lost electrical power as a result of a storm. As of August 3, 2006, approximately 14,000 customers remain without power. This 14,000 figure includes 3,000 in the City of Springfield. Although the outages were scattered, the greatest concentration of outages occurred in the southern Connecticut Valley, west of Worcester, greater Springfield and the south shore areas. (FEMA Region I)
Fire Threat to Hooper Bay, Alaska
August 3, 2006, 11:45 A.M. Pacific Time
A fire affecting Hooper Bay, a coastal community on the Bering Sea about 150 miles northwest of Bethel, has consumed the community's elementary school, high school, all teacher housing and 10 private homes.
The fire has spread to the part of the community called "old town" where it is now threatening an additional 80 homes. The 250 people from old town have been evacuated to areas that are not threatened at this time. Two of the largest retail stores, the National Guard Armory and fuel storage tanks are also threatened.
There have been no reports of injuries or deaths. Response is complicated as the community has minimal fire fighting equipment and the extreme geographical distance of assistance.
State/Local Response: The State has activated the State Emergency Coordination Center to assess response needs and to support the coordination of assistance to Hooper Bay.
The Alaska National Guard is evaluating its assets to support the response. Department of Public Safety and the State Fire Marshal are activated as well as the Alaska Division of Forestry which is using helicopters to provide water for fire fighting.
The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center is providing firefighting equipment and rotary wing aircraft to suppress the fire.
No request for federal assistance at this time. (FEMA Region X)
Renewed Flooding in the El Paso Metropolitan Area
A combination of very moist atmospheric conditions and a slow moving upper low near the Big Bend Area triggered a line of thunderstorms that formed northeast of El Paso Texas, and moved southwest into the city a little after 1 am MDT on Thursday August 3, 2006. The rain ended before 4 am MDT.
The storms produced very heavy rainfall in a very short period of time and covered an area that had already seen very heavy flooding rains on Tuesday (August 1). Widespread flooding was reported throughout the city of El Paso. There were several road closures due to flooding, including portions of Interstate 10, US 54, Airway Boulevard near the airport.
Authorities also reported flooding along four city blocks near Saipan and Raynolds Streets in east central El Paso with home evacuations ongoing. There were numerous water rescues and extractions. Rainfall totals varied from 0.5 inches near downtown to 1.7 inches in other parts of the metro area, with most reports exceeding 1 inch. El Paso International Airport recorded 1.13 inches (the bulk of which fell in the first 30 minutes of the event). The Rio Grande River crested about nine-tenths of a foot below flood stage in the city.
There was one traffic fatality reported near a flooded intersection of Trans-Mountain Road and Doniphan in far northwest El Paso. No other injuries were reported.
As of Wednesday evening, there were still about 300 people remaining in shelters as a result of flooding earlier in the week.
NOAA NWS Operations
WFO El Paso had issued a Flood Watch for much of southern New Mexico and Far West Texas late Tuesday evening (MDT). The Watch was dropped for the New Mexico counties as of Midnight MDT Thursday morning but remained in effect until 6 am MDT Thursday for El Paso and Hudspeth Counties Texas.
As the storms were approaching El Paso, the office issued a Special Weather Statement for El Paso and for Dona Ana County New Mexico at 1227 am MDT Thursday, and followed it up with an Urban and Arroyo Flood Advisory at 1256 am MDT (valid until 3 am MDT) for El Paso County Texas and Dona Ana and southwestern Otero Counties in New Mexico.
They later issued a Flash Flood Warning for El Paso and Dona Ana Counties at 1:31 AM (valid until 330 am MDT). A River Statement was later issued indicating the Rio Grande would rise, but remain below flood stage.
Staff at WFO El Paso was in frequent contact with the El Paso City Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. (NOAA)
SW Washington Quake Felt in Portland
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake early Thursday north of Vancouver was widely felt in the Portland, OR., area.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 1:39 a.m. near the town of La Center, about 12 miles north of Vancouver. That is more than 30 miles southwest of Mount St. Helens, where many minor quakes have been occurring lately because of the volcano's dome-building eruption.
The U.S.G.S. said it had reports from more than 300 people in Oregon who felt the quake in Portland and its suburbs. There were no reports of damage or injury.
The University of Washington seismograph network recorded a magnitude 2.1 quake in the same area at 3:25 a.m. (NOAA)
Tropical Activity
Other than Tropical Storm Chris, there is no activity in the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico.
There is no significant activity in the Pacific. (National Hurricane Center, Joint Typhoon Warning Center)
Earthquake Activity
There was no other significant earthquake activity. (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
Current Situation:
Initial attack activity was light nationally with 111 new fires reported. Nine new large fires were reported, six each in the Southern Area, and one each in the Northern Rockies, Rocky Mountain, and Eastern Great Basin Areas.
Five large fires were contained, two in the Northern Rockies Area, Southern Area, and one each in the Western Great Basin, Rocky Mountains and Southern Areas.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Two additional MAFFS C-130 aircraft and support personnel are being ordered to be located at Boise, ID. This is in anticipation of a lightning event across much of the west starting Friday and continuing through at least the middle of next week.
Structure Loss 2006 Season year to date: Primary 576, Commercial 37, Outbuildings 1205.
Outlook:
Fire Weather Watch: For windy conditions in eastern Wyoming, and much of South Dakota.
A low pressure trough will develop along the West Coast with dry offshore flow for Northern California. Elsewhere, wet thunderstorms will continue over the Four Corner states with isolated drier storms over the Great Basin.
Major Evacuations/Structures Threatened:
There are currently 48 large fires reported on the Situation Report, of these 16 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 again today with most making good progress towards containment. (National Interagency Fire Center)
Disaster Declaration Activity
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Last Modified: Friday, 04-Aug-2006 09:36:52 EDT