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National Situation Update: Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Cold Air and Scattered Showers

Northeast:    
Most of the Northeast will be feeling colder temperatures. There will be a few scattered afternoon showers across parts of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

South:    
A cold front will slowly progress to the south and east across the region. Precipitation will be in the form of scattered showers and thunderstorms from the Tennessee Valley to the Louisiana Coast. Tropical moisture over southern Florida may result in periods of heavy rain across the area through Thursday.

West:   
A storm system in the Pacific will produce significant rainfall across some areas from late today into the weekend.  Rain will stretch from coastal areas of northern California up to Washington. The rest of the region will be dry but cold across the northern Rockies.

Midwest:
While most of the Midwest is in store for a seasonably cool and dry weather, the exception will be a few showers around the Ohio Valley. Then a surge of cold air will sweep in from the Upper Midwest to the Upper Great Lakes late today and lake-effect snow will develop across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Snow will continue through Thursday and some significant accumulations are possible across the parts of the Upper Peninsula.     (National Weather Service, media sources)

Northeast Weekend Storm System Update

Portland, ME - Maine electric companies said the number of power outages due to high winds last weekend is down to a few thousand on Tuesday morning. Bangor Hydro electric said 3,200 customers and 600 Central Maine Power customers are still without power. A high of 66,000 customers were without power and are served by both companies. Utility crews hoped to restore service to all of the homes and businesses by Tuesday.

North County, NH - Public Service Company of New Hampshire crews are still working to restore power to everyone after the strong winds of the weekend. About 580 homes and businesses remain without power, mostly in the North County. That is down from 24,000 without power during the weekend.

Vermont: as of 8:30am EDT October 31, 2006, reports approximately 211 without power.   (FEMA Region 1, ME EMA,  NHBEM, VEM, media sources)

Conrail Train Accident

At approximately 5:30am EDT October 31, 2006 a Conrail train collided with a tanker truck carrying 7500 gallons of Kerosene.  The leak has been contained. NJDEP and the Newark Fire Department HAZMAT Team are on the scene and continue to monitor the situation. As a precaution approximately 800 residents of Delaney Hall, a Department of Corrections facility near the crash have been relocated to another facility. Region II is monitoring the situation. No Federal involvement is anticipated or requested.  (FEMA Region I)

Salmonellosis Outbreak Investigation

October 31, 2006  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with state departments of health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is investigating an outbreak of infections caused by a type of Salmonella called Salmonella Typhimurium. This infection has no relationship to typhoid fever, which is caused by another organism. Salmonella Typhimurium typically causes an illness with fever and non-bloody diarrhea which commonly resolves after about one week. This illness is different from that caused by E. coli O157:H7, which produces bloody diarrhea, severe cramps, and in some persons, severe kidney disease. PulseNet, the network of public health laboratories that performs molecular subtyping ("DNA fingerprinting") on bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses, has identified a specific strain of Salmonella Typhimurium that has caused this outbreak. Cases caused by the specific strain have been detected regularly at low frequency (average, 86 cases per year) for the past 5 years, indicating the presence of this strain at low levels in the environment and the food chain. The outbreak has involved 171 cases of infection by this strain in 19 states reported since September 1, 2006. The median age of patients is 36 years, and 59% are female. As with most infections by Salmonella, most patients had a febrile diarrheal illness. Of 73 patients for whom clinical data has been reported, 14 (19%) were hospitalized; there have been no deaths reported. At this time few new cases are being detected, and there is little evidence of continuing risk to the public. 

CDC and its public health partners are vigorously working to identify the specific contaminated food or foods that caused this outbreak. Outbreaks from a widely distributed contaminated food cause cases to be scattered across the country, and the identity of the contaminated food is often not readily apparent. In outbreaks like this one, identification of the contaminated food requires conducting detailed standardized interviews with recovering case-patients and with non-ill members of the public ("controls") to compare the foods they had eaten. The process is labor intensive and may require days to weeks. As soon as the contaminated food is identified, if there is evidence of ongoing risk, public health officials can advise the public to avoid it, and remove the food from the marketplace. (CDC)

Esperanza Wildfire Final Update

Fire officials said the 40,200 - acre blaze (63-square mile) was 100 percent contained as of 9:00pm EDT October 30, 2006.  Five firefighters were killed, and 34 homes were destroyed along with 20 outbuildings. Some firefighter units remain to monitor and mop-up that area. There is some concern about the eastern flank of the blaze, which borders a wilderness area that hasn't burned in more than 30 years and has been devastated by a bark beetle infestation.  Operational control of the incident transitioned back to Riverside County October 31, 2006. (FEMA Region IX)

Fire Statistics (Year to Date):

• 2006 (January 1 - October 30, 2006)  Fires: 86,545    Acres: 9,442,610.
  
• 2005 (January 1 - October 30, 2006)  Fires: 56,589    Acres: 8,256,081.
  (NFN, National Infrastructure Coordination Center)
  

Hawaii Earthquake Update

FEMA 1664-DR-HI as of 1:00pm EDT October 31, 2006
Maui: The Paihi Bridge is closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic due to structural integrity on Route 360. Route 360 is closed in areas west of Kaupo due to overhanging boulders in the Manuwainui Gulch area. County and State efforts are in progress to supply 500 area residence with goods, commodities and necessities.

Hawaii: Kawaihae Harbor has resume operations while assessments and repairs continue. Boils at Waikoloa Reservoir No. 2 and No. 1 have ceased flowing.  (FEMA Region IX)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea:
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected through Thursday.

Central and Eastern Pacific:
Tropical storm formation is not expected through Thursday.

Western Pacific:
No new activity to report. (USDOC/NOAA/NWS, NHC, Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

At 9:30 am EDT a 4.6 magnitude (light) earthquake was reported 43 miles south southeast of Nikolski, Alaska. No damage was reported   (USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center,)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)