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National Situation Update: Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National Forecast

West:  A potent storm system is poised to impact the West Coast with some wind-driven rain and heavy mountain snowfall. Southern California could experience heavy rain as well prompting flash flood watches for the burn areas around Los Angeles. Lighter showers are expected to stretch from Washington and Oregon southeast to Arizona and New Mexico. Gale warnings are also in effect along the California coast from Cape Mendocino south to Santa Cruz Island due to the storm. The system originated in the Gulf of Alaska rather than from the Aloha State. The latest storm to pound Hawaii with heavy rainfall should move away from the islands today allowing for a drier day.

Midwest:  A weakening storm system should progress through the eastern Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes during the day today. Some light rain and light showers are forecast to accompany the system as it moves through. After a few morning showers around the western Great Lakes the skies should clear with mild temperatures for the afternoon.

South:  A slow-moving cold front drops into the South with some showers and thunderstorms along it. The heaviest rain should fall over eastern Texas and western Louisiana with a few inches possible by tomorrow morning. Lighter showers are expected across the Southeast where moisture levels are lower.

Northeast:  A weakening storm system rolls into the southern part of the Northeast later today and tonight. Some light rain and light showers are expected to fall along the path of the storm. Northern sections of the region should have sunny to partly cloudy skies and temperatures should continue to run close to March averages.  (NWS, Media Sources)

FEMA to Prep Gulf Coast for Hurricanes

FEMA's top Gulf Coast official says the federal government is stockpiling supplies and is ready to give disaster planners guidance ahead of the new hurricane season.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency officials were to huddle Monday with emergency planners in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to review trouble spots in evacuation and response plans.  FEMA is stockpiling MREs, water, cots, blankets and other emergency supplies at government sites in the Gulf Coast.

The region has glaring problems that could make disaster planning much harder for the Atlantic hurricane season, which starts on June 1.  Many bridges, in some cases the only evacuation routes, are still under repair or out of service. Basic services such as hospitals, banks, nursing homes and local governments have been badly damaged and are  struggling to stay open.  Population shifts caused by Hurricane Katrina - some areas exploding, others nearly disappearing - will force planners to think differently about their response plans.

An interagency task force has been set up to coordinate the multitude of federal agencies and organizations such as the American Red Cross that lend assets during disasters. 

Federal Funds Totaling More Than $18.6 Million Awarded To Mississippi Town

The Hurricane Katrina ravaged town of Waveland will receive more than $18.6 million in federal funds to repair its sewer collection system, Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, both R-Miss., said Monday.

``Waveland was one of the communities hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, which caused unprecedented damage to the city's infrastructure,'' Lott said. ``As a result, the city's entire sewer system must be replaced.''

The hurricane's massive storm surge was primarily responsible for extensive damage to the system below the CSX railroad tracks, the two said.

The funding will be administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state.  (Media Sources)

Katrina Survivors Play Defense Against Looting

The two men poking through the wreckage that still litters Lake Catherine island looked pretty much like the local Katrina survivors, some of whom still scavenge for necessities. But a resident had his suspicions - especially when he saw the men rolling up the expensive power cable laid down earlier by lineworkers down the road.  The resident urged a passing sheriff's deputy to check out their story that they were contractors working on the power lines. By the time the deputy came screaming back in her cruiser, Mayeur says, the would-be looters had fled, but without the cable.

The riotous looting that swept the area right after hurricane Katrina is long gone, but in its place is opportunistic - even organized - thievery of everything from construction tools to carved mantelpieces of damaged homes.  "We're still in early recovery, and this type of post- looting has become a real problem," says criminologist William Thornton of Loyola University in New Orleans, noting that many looters drive in from out of state. "All our small law-enforcement agencies are spread thin and really hurting because their tax base is no longer in existence."

The overall crime rate along the Louisiana-Mississippi border has doubled in recent months even as violent crime has dropped 80 percent since the storm, according to the New Orleans Police Department. Property crimes are a major part of that surge. 
In response, police and area residents throughout the storm-damaged region are taking some unusual steps to prevent looting.

• In Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish, the sheriff department proposed hiring 100 private security guards from DynCorp, the same company that provides security in Iraq, to work alongside deputies.
• Here in the tightly knit Lake Catherine neighborhood of Orleans Parish, one determined resident tried setting up a roadblock to turn away vehicles driven by strangers - an illegal stunt that in ordinary times might have landed him in jail.
• Elsewhere, returning residents have marshalled neighborhood forces to look out for looters and marauders. Some have spray-painted dire warnings - such as "Looters will be drawn and quartered" - on the sides of garages and stranded boats. Along the Belle Chasse Highway in Plaquemines, one resident set out what might be called a "looter scarecrow": a bearded dummy with a fake rifle across his lap and a "No Trespassing" sign at his feet.

In St. Bernard Parish, three members of a Latin American gang were recently arrested for stealing private property, though police did not say what they stole. Though most of the gang crime is in the form of graffiti, law officers worry that members of gangs such as MS-13 will be able to blend into the crowd of Hispanic construction rebuilding crews while trafficking in drugs and committing violent crime.

The sheriff department's plan to hire law-enforcement help from DynCorp would, presumably, help address that concern. Under the plan, FEMA would provide $70 million over three years to replace more than 200 parish deputies who were furloughed because of a budget crunch. Before the storm, DynCorp hired mainly ex-soldiers to guard civilians and property in Iraq. Its 100 guards would wear the sheriff department uniforms and work alongside deputies. FEMA has yet to approve the plan.

In the meantime, here on Lake Catherine island dozens of cars with out-of-state license plates drive around, their occupants scoping out supplies such as wires and generators, even dishes and wrought-iron tables. Then, they strike at night. Nearly all of the 25 residents who had returned as of early March have their own stories about missing property or coming upon someone trespassing on their land.  (Media Sources)

Burn Ban Reinstated In 67 Counties

Gov. Brad Henry reinstated a limited burn ban in most of Oklahoma on Monday, pointing to a series of weekend fires and worsening weather conditions.  The new ban will apply in all but 10 southeastern Oklahoma counties that have received the most rainfall in recent weeks.  It will not, however, prohibit charcoal grilling in any of the state's 77 counties, as the previous ban did. Gas grilling also will continue to be permitted in all counties.

On the advice of experts at the state Department of Agriculture, Henry lifted the ban a week ago after rain and snow storms moved through the state.  He announced a modified ban after meeting Monday with state agriculture, forestry and emergency management officials.  ``With the unseasonably warm weather and high winds that are forecast, we want to err on the side of caution,'' Henry said. ``Although the agriculture department experts believe Oklahoma had received enough precipitation to remove the ban last week, we think it would be in everyone's best interest to reinstate a limited ban until we can be sure that the worst danger has passed.''

He said reinstituting the ban will cause a hardship on farmers and ranchers ``but in these weather conditions, a ban is necessary to protect lives and property.''  State forestry officials said not everyone followed the governor's advice when he lifted the ban last week to be especially cautious with any outdoor fires.

The 10 counties exempted from the new burn ban are Pittsburg, Latimer, Leflore, McCurtain, Choctaw, Pushmataha, Bryan, Atoka, Coal and Marshall.  Violations of the ban are misdemeanors punishable by as much as a $500 fine and one year in jail.  (Media Sources)

Hundreds Of Fire Departments Apply For Federal Aid

Hundreds of fire departments in Oklahoma have applied for federal assistance to help cover the costs of fighting wildfires that have marched across the state since November, but officials say federal money may still be weeks away.

State records indicated that at least 2,700 wildfires have started in Oklahoma since Nov. 1, scorching more than 557,549 acres. Through March 21 a total of 831 local departments have applied for public assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswomen for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.  Chouteau Fire Chief Ted Key said that by December his fiscal year budget was depleted by half. Expenses have included replacement of tires, air filters and burned hoses.  The federal money hasn't started to flow.

``There is an immense amount of record keeping that has to be in place, and we're all in various points of the process,'' Ooten said. ``Any time you're dealing with state and federal government, it's just going to take a little bit of time.''   ``If we don't get this money in soon, we're probably going to run out of money before the end of the year, even with the (recent) rains,'' said Chouteau Fire Chief Ted Key, whose fire protection district covers 125 square miles.

In Okmulgee County, firefighters have turned to grass-roots fundraising to battle the cost of wildfires, holding public dinners and officiating youth basketball games to generate revenue.  ``They all are picking out of their own pockets,'' Okmulgee County Emergency Management Director Dan Ivins said. ``Each department is having fundraisers in their own districts all the time.''  (Media Sources)

Tropical Activity

Earthquake Activity

There was no significant seismic activity during the past 24 hours.  (Source: United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

Current Situation:  Initial attack activity was light nationally with 34 new fires reported. Three large fires were reported, two in the Southern Area and one in the Southwest Area. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, Arkansas and Florida. A MAFFS Mission Commander, two MAFFS C-130 air tankers and support personnel from the 145th Tactical Airlift Wing have repositioned to Charlotte North Carolina on 48-hour availability.

Weather Discussion: Dry weather and low humidity is again on tap for the Southeast as high pressure blankets the region. High pressure will also prevail over the Southwest.  (National Interagency Coordination Center, National Interagency Fire Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)