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National Situation Update: Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Rain in Much of the South – Seasonal Temperatures in Most of the U.S.

South: Possibility of showers and thunderstorms scattered across the South on Tuesday. Some locally heavy rain may accompany thunderstorms over the Florida Peninsula.

Northern Texas may experience showers on Tuesday with highs that should range from the upper 70s in parts of the Texas Panhandle and southern Appalachians to over 100 degrees over parts of northern Texas. Highs in most of the Deep South will reach in the 90s.

West: Some showers and thunderstorms will erupt over parts of Arizona and New Mexico on Tuesday, especially in the higher elevations.

The interior West will remain hot in cities like Boise and Salt Lake City. High temperatures should range from the 60s in parts of the southern Rockies and along the northern Pacific Coast to over 110 in the lower Colorado River Valley. Eastern Washington and central and eastern Montana are likely to experience highs in the 90s. Red Flag Warnings have been issued for Tuesday for eastern Washington and Oregon.

Northeast: A cold front will push into the Northeast on Tuesday bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms in the area from Upstate New York to Northern New England. Highs across the region are expected to be in the 70s and 80s, north to south.

Midwest: Except for a few thunderstorms around the Great Lakes, most of the Midwest will be dry on Tuesday. There is a chance for precipitation in the area from southern Kansas down through Oklahoma.

High temperatures are likely to range from the upper 60s around Lake Superior to the 90s in the western High Plains, parts of southeastern Kansas and central Missouri.  (NWS, Media Sources)

Incident Management Teams

Incident Management Teams (IMTs) are currently very active fighting the western U.S. wildfires. During last year's catastrophic hurricanes, IMTs were deployed to the Gulf Coast area to assist in response and recovery efforts.

An Incident Management Team (IMT) is made up of the command and general staff members in an Incident Command System (ICS) organization. Persons to fill these positions for various types of incidents or events are often pre-designated to ensure that they have the necessary training and experience to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of the ICS position. The level of training and experience of the IMT members, coupled with the identified formal response requirements and responsibilities of the IMT, are factors in determining the "Type", or level, of IMT.

Although the primary purpose is for wildfire response, an Incident Management Team can respond to a wide range of emergencies including:  fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami, riots, hazardous materials, and other natural or human-caused incidents. The IMT types, including certifying level and basic make-up, are:

• Type 1 National and State Level - a Federally- or State-certified team; is the most robust IMT with the most experience; is fully equipped and self-contained. Type 1 IMTs operate through the United States Forest Service (USFS).

• Type 2 National and State Level - a Federally- or State-certified team; has less staffing and experience than Type 1 IMTs, and is typically used on smaller scale national or state incidents. Type 2 IMTs operate through the USFS.

• Type 3: State or Metropolitan Area Level - a standing team of trained personnel from different departments, organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions within a state or region, activated to support incident management at incidents that extend beyond one operational period. Type 3 IMTs will respond throughout the State or large portions of the State, depending upon State-specific laws, policies, and regulations.

• Type 4: City, County or Fire District Level - a designated team of fire, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and possibly law enforcement officers from a larger and generally more populated area, typically within a single jurisdiction (city or county), activated when necessary to manage a major or complex incident during the first 6-12 hours and possibly transition to a Type 3 IMT.

• Type 5: Local Village and Township Level - a "pool" of primarily fire officers from several neighboring departments trained to serve in Command and General Staff positions during the first 6-12 hours of a major or complex incident.   (United States Fire Administration, Wikipedia.org).
  

Tropical Activity

Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea:  At 5:00 am EDT Tuesday, Tropical Depression Four was located near 12.8 north 24.6 west or about 140 miles south of the Cape Verde Islands with sustained wind speeds near 35 mph. TD Four remains a large and well organized system and is likely to become the fourth named storm of the season during the next 24 hours -- Debby.

Elsewhere tropical storm formation is not expected through Wednesday.

Eastern Pacific:  At 5:00 am EDT Tuesday, the newly-formed Tropical Storm Ileana with winds about 52 mph was located near 14.0 north 105.6 west southwest of Acapulco Mexico. Ileana is expected to intensify during the next 24 hours.

At 5:00 am EDT Tuesday, Tropical Storm Hector with winds about 40 mph was located about 1,200 miles east of the Hawaiian Islands where the system continues to deteriorate. Hector is forecast to dissipate during the next 24 hours.

At 5:00 am EDT Tuesday, Hurricane 01C Ioke (formerly TS 01C) was located near 14.9 north 168.1 west or about 155 miles southeast of Johnston Island and about 800 miles west-southwest of Honolulu Hawaii. The storm, with sustained winds about 135 mph, is expected to move toward the northwest near 13 mph and this motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours.

Elsewhere tropical storm formation is not expected through Tuesday.

Western Pacific: No tropical storm warnings.
(USDOC/NOAA/NWS, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center).

Earthquake Activity

No significant activity during the last 24 hours. (United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

Alaska:  Fire August 2-3, 2006.  Individual Assistance and Public Assistance PDAs for the community of Hooper Bay began on August 21, 2006.

Idaho:  Levee Impacts May 17-June 28, 2006. Public Assistance PDAs for an undetermined number of counties are scheduled to begin on August 23, 2006.  (FEMA Region X)  

Wildfire Update

National Preparedness Level 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5).

August 21, 2006 wildfire activity was light nationally with 126 new fires reported.

Eight new large fires were reported, two in Nevada, and one each in California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Six large fires were contained, two each in Idaho and Utah, and one each in Florida and Texas.  
 
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Two C-130 aircraft from the Wyoming ANG remain deployed to Oregon and two C-130 aircraft from the Califormia ANG remain deployed to Idaho to provide wildfire fighting support.

The U.S. Army Task Force Blaze (550 soldiers) remains assigned to the Tripod Complex wildfire in Washington. (National Fire Information Center, media sources)

Disaster Declaration Activity

FEMA-1645-ND will close on August 25, 2006.   (FEMA HQ)